Even with a baby you can go on a roadtrip :-)
Here are a few tips from us:
- crib - a lot of hotels have a shortage of cribs or they are not cheap at all (we were offered $10-$30 per night). Some airlines offer to check a crib or car seat along with the stroller for the infant ticket. We flew American Airlines and they allow two such bags. We decided to bring the car seat and bought the crib at the nearest Target ($60-100).
- Target often has a pharmacy, including medicine for children.
- you can board the plane with an infant first.
- an infant is not entitled to their own seat on the plane. Before take-off, ask the flight attendants to tell you if any seats will be available. Whoever is travelling with you can then change seats and you will have more room for your little one. The staff always tried to accommodate us.
- A baby carrier is also handy for the plane. We use a manduka and sometimes the staff on the plane find it sufficient and they won't even give you a seatbelt.
- you can also take water or different porridges for the baby on the plane, just expect a more thorough check.
- in NY use buses, travelling with a little one is much more pleasant than the subway. The tunnels are terribly hot in the summer and there are few escalators. There aren't many elevators either.
- Almost all hotels had a coffee machine in the rooms to make water for milk. And if there is not, they will help at the reception. Microwave for heating is not that common.
The travelogue for our trip was written by my dear wife ...
Flight to Dallas roughly 10h spiced with my 4 times vomiting and Sofina's pitiful looks over her mother.
Otherwise ❌️not expecting another gang member
✅️ Probably the English diet, lack of sleep, the decibels of wine after takeoff, a little turbulence, or a mix of all of those things together did me in.
It was only after about 5h of flight that Coca Cola helped, which Jožka honestly cleaned in the toilets, for which he deserves my big thanks ❤
In Dallas, we run out of the plane with 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 bag full of food for Joseph, a stroller, Joseph in a carrier and 1 spare bag for any further nausea. The plane is delayed and we have 1.5hrs to clear immigration, pick up our checked suitcase, re-check our suitcase, check all our bags again and move to the other side of the airport. So we sprint through the whole thing, halfway through Stepan shouts "it's like Home Alone, let's not lose Kevin or Sofinka" ...and as "Mr. Manager" said on the plane, "for a greaser", we are still here with a reserve.
We'll fly to Los Angeles in about 3 hours sleep.
The suitcase and the car seat are picked up safely to their destination. ...and Joseph? Yes so he flew with us and in the loop feed me and I'll sleep again so don't disturb me too much he participated. The rest of the children are already self-supporting except for one spilling a Coke on their daddy, which he was not happy about and one little girl was sad about it for a while.
After 24h on the road we pick up the car and go to buy a cot. 15min before closing time we run with 4 kids to target, where besides the cot, we take a cot, a box of nappies, toast, ham, cheese, a bag of apples for the kids for dinner or they would eat before midnight and in the morning they will be useful for breakfast... and now a 1.5-hour drive to Palm Springs. The weakest link of the trip was declared to be my mother.
It's 6.30 in the morning, all sun-drenched, and we're happily recounting our experiences from the trip and how glad we are that we made the flight in Dallas. Now comes that moment when the "Matrix" error occurs, or in our children's vocabulary, "failure". We will remember this moment in our travel journal. There were 2 solutions. By mutual agreement, we choose option 2.
Children rush off for a swim in the pool, Jožka goes to T-Mobile to get a new sim card/ mobile data. After repacking the suitcases, we load the car again so that we can unload the big suitcase again in a few days.
We're going to visit the Palm Springs Air museum. Joshka made a date with the receptionist, who was warmer than today, to at least get the usa phone working. The kids and I are learning the Fahrenheit scale to control the local air conditioners. We were thrilled with the museum, 3h are gone we don't even know how.
Outside of the free-running donkeys, the opportunity to buy a bunch of Route 66 memorabilia, we visited a business decorated with autographed bills from visitors, so they have one on the stairwell from us. It was a 2x 50 min drive, but well worth it.
Not much for me tonight. The neighbors above us have a child who practically screams all night, which is not compatible with a mother wondering if it's her child screaming. Of course, the rest of my traveling companions are asleep. We have first accommodation with breakfast. Well, in the morning we pack bags of water, juice, granola bar, compote, cutlery, muffin, which is surprisingly sweeter than the manager at the front desk in Palm Springs. So the kids have been eating pizza since dinner. Joseph inhales his muesli pocket and we speed off towards the Grand Canyon. Mr. Google is navigating today. No need to burden the family two days in a row, after all.
At the visitor center we buy a park ticket for the car for a nice 35,-$, which is valid for tomorrow. We board the bus (it is already included in the price of the paid admission) and drive to the Village. From there, the buses operate as hop on hop off at the various viewpoints. We walk part of the way, I have Joseph in a manduka. He falls asleep after a while. The Grand Canyon is one big wow. Actually, the whole time you're wondering if you're dreaming or if the scenery is real. It's indescribable and must be experienced. Sophie was designated as an explorer at the beginning of the trip, which may not have been entirely intentional, because her enthusiasm for the trip is really high, and we are already watching her from the opposite rocks. Her pace is killer and our desire to take photos and videos is slowing us down considerably. Fortunately, sometimes she also wants to take a photo so she waits for us. The final station Hermits Rest here is a refreshment stand and another breathtaking view. Joseph has a toothache and sleeps through the whole trip except for a food break.
Back the bus takes us without stops, because there was a storm in some parts, so according to the American motto "safety first", they take people to the main parking lot and close the park. If I was captivated by Denali Park in Alaska, the fjords in Norway, the Foz do Iguazú Falls in Brazil, the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the nature in New Zealand, the Grand Canyon is of course in the top ten.
I wake up at 4 o'clock to Joseph and unfortunately I don't manage to continue sleeping. Not that I don't want to, but there's still work to be done. Change, boil milk, change, teeth still hurt so we're taking nurofen for the temperature. Prepare fruit and veggies for the road, toast with ham and cheese. After yesterday's experience, the kids are packing the oreo yogurt I picked up at the store for breakfast. Which leads me to a thought.
If there's one thing I love about America, it's grocery shopping. The way they treat the customer. Sure they have it down pat, but why isn't it here? The cashier isn't stressed about having to ring up a certain number of items per minute, she doesn't crumple my food, pile it on top of each other, frown at me or pretend I'm bothering her. Alternatively, she's in death and will probably collapse at the register soon. She chats with you, sorts your purchases into bags/boxes and still asks if you found everything and are satisfied. For me, the brand is perfect.
Today there is a surprise for Štěpka and Jáchym. Jožka ordered a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon while planning their route. So we head to the local airport, where the boys go through a short instructional video and board the helicopter. The flight takes about 25min. In the meantime, Josef, Sofinka and I watch the helicopters landing and departing.
The boys return excitedly and head back to the Grand Canyon.
This time we are driving to the other side because we have new accommodation about 2,5h away. We are stopping at individual viewpoints. One's eyes are going over again. The children eagerly pose for more and more photos because it is supposedly even nicer here than at the last viewpoint, I hear over and over again. Jožka and I are already joking that we will have only one Grand Canyon album from the USA 🤣. The weather is really changeable here, so we get slightly wet before we walk back to the parking lot from the tower. Sophie has an association with the war in Ukraine on the way in running from the rain or I was said to look like I was running for cover and protecting a child. This is followed again by a conversation about Putin and the Russian people living in the Czech Republic and why they are fleeing the regime. Sometimes the thoughts going through their heads are surprising. We get in the car, Josífek is eating as much as he can and we drive to Page in the rain.
After unloading their suitcases, the children quickly put on their swimsuits and head to the reception to find out where the pool is. We're not sure there is one. As they stand in the hotel lobby dressed in their swimsuits and Sofi wearing a mask and fins, they exclaim that it would be really embarrassing to find out there's no pool. Fortunately, it turns out well and the receptionist directs them where to go. I repack the bags and prepare food and clothes for the next 24 for Joseph, who successfully attacks the toilet. We have it more intimate today than yesterday, but everyone still has a place to sleep and tomorrow morning we are on the road again.
The next location selected is Zion National Park. At the visitor center, we transfer to a bus and drive to the Temple of Sinawava, the last stop on our route through the park. We continue walking the Riverside walk. Sofi cools her feet in the river and Jáchym takes my turn in carrying Joseph, who falls asleep contentedly again. The park looks like a fairy tale. Nature is very diverse. Today's car journey time for transfers is about 3.5 hours.
At Wendys' dinner is unanimously voted the top 🐎 horse shoe of the day.
Local game room, laser game and go-karting. As a best of parents, we'll finish it off with an oreo shake at the Burger King, grocery shopping, goodies for the next few days and an evening swim with all the kids in the pool.
Packing, packing, packing ... today I go to sleep at 1 a.m. so that I can get up at 3 a.m. to Josífek and wake up the children with the morning crouping, as they say in Moravia. Time for a trip.
Before 10am we are already getting off at the parking lot in Grand Canyon West. Transfer from Las Vegas without stops 2h 20min. We buy tickets, get on the bus and go to the Eagle point lookout. We follow the glass arch over the canyon called the Skywalk. It is located on an Indian reservation at the west end of the canyon in an area inhabited by the Hualapai tribe. However, it is clear that the tribe itself could not fund the construction of the Skywalk. So the project was taken on by a Las Vegas businessman originally from China, David Jin, with whom the tribe will share the proceeds for the next 25 years. Other revenues will include operating a visitor center, restaurants, a hotel and hosting sightseeing rides in all-terrain vehicles. The entire lookout resembles a giant horseshoe and is made of ninety tons of specially tempered glass from Germany. According to the designers, the platform can bear a load equivalent to the weight of at least seventy Boeing 747 aircraft. For absolute safety, the observation deck is mounted on 94 metal rods drilled fourteen metres into the limestone massif. As you walk along, you can enjoy a tantalising view through the glass floor, the entire walkway extending 21 metres over the edge of the steep cliff, with 1200 metres of void below you, and only eight centimetres of glass separating you from the abyss. The whole thing would have been amazing if they hadn't confiscated our cell phones to take pictures before we entered and wanted to charge us an additional $25 for 1 photo (or $65 for 15 photos). Like, I understand that half of the 1,400 Hualapai tribe members are permanently unemployed, and a third live below the poverty line, but this is a rip-off. Anyway, we don't let it spoil our trip and stare into the canyon in amazement. We visit Indian dwellings and get off at other viewpoints along the bus route. It's just over 40°C. After eating breakfast in the car for 1,5 hours, Josífek eats another chicken pocket in the shade and with loud laughter arrives at the tourists and touis who can't resist the baby and start making monkeys on him. He's really cool about it, always looking at someone until he gives in and starts talking to us.
Finally, we head to the hotel lobby, where there is a casino or we have to try some local gambling. We change $75 in chips and go play roulette. Beginner's luck is filling in, and we win a color and a number in a four of a kind on the first play. Great! We put away what we put in and go on to successfully lose the remaining winnings.
Tough blow for a parent, but we'll give it a go today. Cold shower to start. We're packing up, the kids got used to the nomadic way of traveling very quickly. It's taking us less and less time to pack and unpack. I point out that it still involves moving all the stuff we have with us, so when we get off the hotel elevator people stare in puzzlement at the number of children getting off, festooned with bags and suitcases. All I hear is "big family". We do it all in one go, for example today I'm pulling a stroller with junior and a handbook in addition to 6 bags. You don't want to do it twice from the 23rd floor.
Drive 4h 40min and first turn after 150 miles. Today we have the longest move in one day. Although on net time in the car, it's on par with our trip to the Grand Canyon. A car enthusiast would weep for us, because to save time, all the feeding of the predators is done while driving. Pit stop for repacking is reduced to under 5 minutes including disposal of contaminated items. In the role of stocker I get sweaty every day, next time I should consider adding a plastic apron although I would certainly get moldy anyway. Our testing of American snacks continues, though not very satisfactorily today then, the food burns, burns and burns fiercely. The boys report that they are in tears and their stomachs are on fire. We will not be visiting Arbys again. So far, Wendy's, Subway, Panda and MC Donald are winning. Along the way, we manage the prospect of parked planes and a stop to restock at Walmart.
What about Mr. Joseph? After a proper breakfast and snack, he snapped and woke up on the spot. He's already cut two teeth. At the hotel, there will be a rewarding trip to the pool again and Joseph likes swimming very much.
Sometimes things happen on the road, like when you pay for gas, buy a coffee and leave after paying. Of course a habit is a habit, like in the Czech Republic, unfortunately in the US you fill up with your Czech fuel card after you pay, that is if you don't forget. Fortunately, after two days they returned our money back to the card.
Birthday morning starts with a great hotel breakfast with fresh fruit, white yogurt and tea in a porcelain mug. A very unusual phenomenon in the US. Everything sun-drenched goes a bit wrong when Sophie manages to break a glass of cough syrup in the hallway on her way out of the room. So I pick up the shards and Sofi gets the last dose of syrup ...hopefully she won't cough anymore or we don't have any other syrup. On the sticky floor I manage to slip a little on the way out of the room.
Sequoia national park destination of the day. About 4 hours on the road.
At the first viewpoint we take a picture with a giant boulder. Everything would have been great if I hadn't landed on my foot and stubbed my middle finger while trying to jump. The blues already know that this year our summer traveling trip cost me the pinky on my right foot and the middle and ring fingers on my left foot. So I'm going on vacation in one pair of sandals because I can't fit in any other shoes. Now I've given that healed middle toe an extra load. Good, I'll spend the rest of the park fortified with ibalgin for the pain. One redwood is nicer than the other.
The biggest attraction of the General Sherman tree is the roughly 2300 - 2700 year old, 83.8 m tall, and 7.7 m trunk diameter - it has 3 best - the oldest, tallest living and widest tree in the world. The Sherman Tree Trail leads to it, winding through a forest of giant sequoias. In addition to this, 4 other trees can be found in the park, which are some of the largest in the world in terms of wood volume. The giant sequoias are rightly referred to as mammoth trees. Walking through the Giant Forest, we felt like real dwarfs.In the park you can also see the highest mountain in the United States, Mount Whitney (4421 m above sea level) (if we take only the continent without Alaska). I can only recommend a visit to this park.
At the hotel I send the little boys out immediately for ice, not to drink, but to foot. The last link of the middle finger has gone black, so the birthday dinner is suddenly putting mommy to bed. Sophie prepares a salad from my supplies, the boys a toast and my husband a glass of wine. We're together.
It's unseasonably hot in the room. When we arrived, Josífek was quick to press the button on the wall by the air conditioner, thus disabling it. That's why we're asking for help at reception. The lady dismantles half of the air conditioner and I convince myself that we don't need the air conditioner. We need it, it's pouring with the boys and it's still 41° outside. So what? We're moving again? No, she kicked the old girl's ass, hallelujah!
Today was the first time it came up, I don't want to get up. Last night I cooked milk 2 times and at 4.30 I think Josífek was quite loud (I mean roaring like a lion) so he woke up everybody except sleeping Sofinka.
I'm the last to go for breakfast, I need a cold shower to wake my body up to life. The all-important evening preparations have not taken place. I'm throwing food into plastic bags, counting diapers, milk measuring cups, bottles, pouches, bodysuits,spoons,bibs.... socks. The kids excitedly welcome the news that they don't have to pack their suitcases today. We'll be back for another sleepover. Joseph Jr. is squishing the octopus with wet wipes. She probably deserved it. We drive to Yosemite National Park about 2hrs from the hotel + 2hrs back. In the car, we listen to the podcast "Bullshit and Politics". Surprisingly, we don't have a Lunetic to start today😂.
Before ten o'clock we are at the gate to the park. The downside to traveling blind is that you may find that you are not allowed in because you don't have a reservation for a pass. Okay, we're looking for WiFi because even the US data doesn't work here. At the nearest lodge, we find out that reservations are available for Tuesday. Good, today is Sunday and we don't want to wait until 4pm to get through here because we have 4 kids in the car and it's 10am. We drive a little further down to ask the local accommodation if maybe they have some possibility of a tour and give us a lift. Jozka comes with a reservation for a night in the park for 24$, which he says will let us into the park. After a while we go through the gate and Sofi asks me if there are bears, why the pine cones sting, if there are predatory fish and other tricky questions that a little traveler is interested in. The sight of Yosemite, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, makes your eyes cross. It is the third oldest park in America. The granite walls that tower like pillars of the emerald green Yosemite Valley with its streaks of waterfalls, the redwoods in Mariposa Grove peeking out like skyscrapers. You gasp at the beauty. Among the most famous peaks are El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Rock. Half Dome boasts a vertical drop of 93%, making it one of the steepest cliffs in North America. On one of her hikes, Sofi discovers a really nice stick that she needs about as much as the rocks from the Grand Canyon. If anyone in our car crew has an adventurous streak, it's Sofie. On the walk where we're cooling our feet after a while she decides we need to take a dip in the icy water and swim across. At another viewpoint, she tracks Daddy to the rocks. The desire to get a photo from one of them drives her to climb over a few trees, a log, hop over the rocks and she's on a boulder in the middle of the river. We discover a small sandy beach with crystal clear water and Josífek, after the initial hardening, splashes happily around and takes it on all fours. While fishing pebbles out of his mouth, I discover that he has 3 teeth out. You still feel a sense of wonder as you leave the park. This park is certainly worth a visit for a few days, unfortunately we don't have any more time.
How much is it? As much as this time yesterday. Okay. 24 minutes and it's packed to go.
Move to the next accommodation in 3h 15min. Remember the mistake in the Matrix on the morning of day 1 in Palm Springs? Well, today we're going to fix it. Hope 🙏for a happy ending at the end of the day. What's the deal? I'm traveling without a passport or driver's license. They were left at the rental car place the night after we arrived.
Wendy's...We're going to Wendy's? Yummy, I hear from the back row of the car.🤣 We've developed an addiction.
"Wanted" is looking for the toilet ghost that locks public restrooms. If you've heard of it, it moves very quietly, unobtrusively and its goal is clear - to lock up and leave the toilet. He creates queues in public toilets. We now know who is to blame, why he has to visit every toilet along the way and why he is there for so long! Caught red-handed and convicted with dirty clothes. Reason unexplained as "prenk". Wish I had figured it out sooner 🤦♀️ those locked toilets along the Los Angeles trail - Palm Springs, Grand Canyon, Zion national park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West, Delano, Sequoia national park, Yosemite national park. I apologize to all the women in line. You can't make this stuff up 😅🙈😅🤭
In the afternoon, visit Hollywood and the Walk of Fame. Documents picked up (1,2h + 1,2h back) - I will need them tomorrow.
Today's agenda is clear, pack up, load up and about 35 min drive to Universal studios, one of the most famous entertainment attractions in Los Angeles.
They opened on April 30, 1912, and are one of the oldest film studios on American soil. They are still used for filming movies and TV shows today, although over the years the giant complex, located in a part of Los Angeles called Universal City, has been transformed primarily into a theme park with dozens of rides, restaurants and gift shops.
Big deal....wow how big. Transformers wins for me, Sofi takes all the rollercoasters probably most of all The Mummy, Harry Potter right behind. But you can also see all of Simpsons Springfield, Jurassic World, Kung Fu Panda, Mimosa, The Secret Life of Pets.....
Sofie: God, why do my feet hurt?
Me: Sophie, because it's 7 p.m. and you've been walking since 10 a.m.
Sofie: And they're actually closing the park?
Me: Yes.
Sofie: That's a shame, although I think my legs would have fallen off.
She walked the last 3h or so in completely wet trainers because she couldn't miss the water rides. And in the car, she showed us her feet completely peeled off.
Next transfer to accommodation is about an hour.
We get to our new room a little after 9:30 in the evening. We unpack, wash, bathe and hop into our beds, getting up at 6.45 in the morning. And the kids, of course, a quick dip in the pool before it closes at 10pm.
Disney California Adventure park
Did we sleep at all?🤣 Josífek 6,47 is screaming as if he was taken on knives. Probably teeth. He already looks like a little vampire with the top 2 mini-teeth sticking out. So we don't have to worry about the wake up call. We're all awake. We've got a 7.40 bus to Disneyland, so we're picking up the pace.
It's a great day. The morning starts on the Ferris wheel at Sofinka's request. Josífek, under the bike, is struggling with American spaghetti, which is not eating, so I am already scraping spaghetti not only from the stroller, from my calves, but also from my forehead. There's a bit of it under the bench too, or he kicked the glass in one go when he was reaching for his bag. Fortunately, we don't have any more. We continue on to Guardians of the Galaxy (apparently it's a "mommy like when the elevator breaks off with you" type attraction) and check out the park. The kids get excited about the Incredicoaster roller coaster, where they get a 4x replay because you ride it upside down! Joseph and I relaxing in the shade. We can recommend Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, where they have great lemon ice cream. Josh and I take turns, so I manage a little Ariel the Mermaid with the kids and an awesome canyon ride in the cars from the cartoon Cars, which I was really impressed with - at times you actually wonder how they made that car move, it looks so real and the final race with the night lighting, was top. We were in the park from 8am to 9.30pm for a lovely 13.5 hours, with the kids only stopping in queues and 20mins for lunch. Sophie dancing at the end during the laser show, which we watched from the pier.
From the bus on the way to the hotel we see the fireworks from the second Disney park, which we watch from the hotel parking lot, whereupon the kids run to get their swimsuits and into the hot tub because it is open until 10pm. Yes, I don't understand where they get the energy all the time either 😅.
The cap doesn't hold the juice properly, she's going to spill it anyway.... before I finish, I'm going to spill the juice.
Good morning.
We're going back to Universal studios. We actually bought discounted tickets on Tuesday, where 1 day (outside of the pre-scheduled days) was free with the ticket. The plan is clear, once the park opens, we'll head to the outermost attractions where there are minimal people and wait times are only under 10 minutes. 2x Transformers, 4x Mummy roller coaster, 1x Jurassic World and move on to places we haven't looked yet. In the afternoon, we take an hour-long tour of the movie studios, which Joseph successfully sleeps through in a carrier, which none of us understands because King Kong is jumping around our cab, we take part in a shootout in The Fast and the Furious, or are part of the devastation of the subway. Movie tricks in all their glory. It's really hot outside, so we leave the park 30 minutes before closing time, completely drenched in sweat.
At the hotel, Sofinka quickly runs to the pool. At 9.30pm, the Disneyland fireworks start, so the kids watch from the pool as if this mega-long light show is just for them.
We are packing ...this time we need to repack all the luggage into the original economical form, at 17:00 we hand in the rental car and fly to New York.
What did we travel here? We have a rented Chrysler Pacifica - the car seats 7 people and has a fairly large trunk. It fits 1x large suitcase, 4 x carry-on bags, 1x folded stroller the size of a carry-on, 1x travel cot, a pack of 24x 0.5l water, and lots of bags and backpacks around the seats too. The Britax Römer "egg" car seat came with us, its check-in was included in the ticket price. We bought a seat for Sofi on the spot.
Today we went to a beach called Huntington beach in the afternoon. It's supposedly 13.5km long. Going to the beach before you fly is such a self-destructive thing. Even after x hours on the road, you're still kicking sand out of yourself. Sofi immediately found a friend to build a castle with. The boys were jumping in the waves and Joseph needed a taste of sand. We walked along the local pier and Sofi made plans that it would be nice to live across the road in these houses and spend our holidays swimming. We sample another local snack this time at Fat Bugrer, where they also make salads.
Today's departure is quite relaxing, Josífek is asleep, so we still hear from our fellow passengers at the airport how cute our baby is.
Our plan to sleep through the flight is not going well. Our seats on the plane are in the last row, where we can't recline the seat to sleep. So the toilets behind us are constantly being flushed, and there are rows of Korean tourists in front of us who keep shining their flashlights. The conditions for sleep are not good. It's not always dawn, but the tickets were cheap.
Arrival to NY at about 4.30am. We are going to the hotel to see if there is a possibility of early accommodation. Unfortunately, they are full and will not have a room for us until the afternoon.
So we leave our luggage here and go to Central Park for breakfast. We miss sunrise by about 10 minutes. We pass a plethora of early morning joggers. Sofi explores the local boulders, playgrounds and most importantly she can't be stopped from scaring the local pigeons. Jozka comes up with the idea of going to see the Statue of Liberty.
The neoclassical copper statue commemorates the friendship and assistance France extended to American settlers in 1776 in their fight for independence. The Statue of Liberty was brought to the U.S. in 350 pieces and was completed in four months and erected on October 28, 1886. It weighs about 203 tonnes and with the base measures 93 metres. In his right hand, the Statue of Liberty holds a torch nearly 13 metres long and in his left hand a book with the inscription "July IV MDCCLXXVI" - that is, July 4, 1776 - the day the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.
We're heading to the subway, then, for the ferry to Staten Island. Here, unfortunately, there are big temperature changes. In the New York subway, it's so hot and the smells so mixed that you struggle to catch your breath; the train, on the other hand, is heavily air-conditioned, which makes you feel like freezing early. As a result, I, Jáchym, Sofinka, and Štěpán fall asleep right after we see the Statue of Liberty. Sleeping on the ferry, in the subway, in the hotel lobby.... time shift did not contribute to the 2 hours of sleep on the plane. So we're like a traveling group of Sleeping Roses.
We live just off Times Square. Its not to be missed, both day and night, and there are markets on the street in front of the hotel on Saturdays, which we see for the first time....we go to sleep at about ten. Hopefully by night we'll be on time.
Today's breakfast will be provided by Jožka until bedtime, a beautiful New York wake-up call. The street's been busy since morning. Kids commenting on how it looks and why these people live on the street. After all, there are more of them here than in Prague. Today we travel exclusively by buses, a new experience for me and Jožeka, because in the past we travelled exclusively by subway in NY. It's one of the oldest and most extensive subways in the world. Its total length is 373 km, it passes through Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and you will find 468 stations. It's a nice change from the New York City subway, as it's not comfortable with a stroller - all narrow stairs up and down.
We're off to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & & Space Museum - a famous military, naval and, to a lesser extent, space museum that is one of the best and largest in its category in the world. The exhibits are breathtaking - you'll even find the Enterprise here. Under the open sky awaits a legend of world transport aviation - the supersonic Concorde aircraft in British Airways colours. After these planes went out of service, many of them flew their last legs to various museums around the world. A G-BOAD registration machine docked at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. There is also a part of the interior accessible, which unfortunately we can't get to because they are sold out for interesting times. The Growler submarine is the only one of its kind with guided missiles that is open to the public in the US. You can see almost the entire machine from the crew rooms to the control center to the popular torpedo chamber. On August 2, 2022, they celebrated 40 years since the museum opened.
Another move to a new prospect we haven't been to in the past, called The Edge. There is a glass floor here, which we (especially me, I guess) are attracted to. It opened in March 2020 and is located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. I highly recommend a visit, it's a really great experience.
We'll contribute in the morning. We didn't set the alarm. After a slightly chaotic morning, our goal today is clear - to visit One World Observatory - 102 floors in 47 seconds.
One World Trade Center, formerly known as Freedom Tower, is a skyscraper built near the site of the original World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We take the subway because it's the fastest way. This time we take all the kids with us and they manage the elevator up without any problems. The view of NY is breathtaking as always, no matter what vantage point you go to. They also have a commentary section, so after it's over I quiz the kids on what they remembered or understood correctly and what they take away about NYC. Josie is asleep as always. Probably no one would believe me, but 90% of the time in situations like this when we travel, he just sleeps in the carrier.
The boys are still going to visit the WTC memorial, including the underground,
Here's a bit of text from Joshka. The 9/11 memorial is one of the things one should not miss when visiting NY. The upper, open-air section, with the waterfalls where the original twin towers stood, is already impressive. The names of all the victims are listed around the edges.
The site is really "powerful" and very impressive. In the underground museum, the feelings are heightened. You can go through the events of that tragic day almost minute by minute. There are many exhibits from the original twin towers, firefighters' equipment, personal belongings of the victims ...
Sophie, Joseph and I want to go shopping for some school clothes. Unfortunately, our favorite mall is closed until spring 2023, so we end up at the Gap, where they have nice discounts and school gear is acquired. We arrive back at the hotel after 9pm and our feet are really hurting.
Last holiday morning, last packing of suitcases. We're rearranging suitcases to pack everything the kids are taking with them. Like the bow and arrows one little girl needed from the Disney store because the boys' one at home no longer survived her passion for shooting. This time we're bringing a purple one (better). The boys are figuring out new shoes so they don't get wrinkled, and I'm figuring out if I have enough food left for Joseph on the way back. We hide the suitcases in the hotel and go shopping with the kids. We have to be back by 3:00 and go to the airport. In the car we talk about our top 5 from the vacation, with the kids clearly winning Universal Studios Hollywood followed closely by Disneyland and The One Observatory in New York City, and me and Josh again choosing the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe, and the parks - Josh the Sequoia and me Yosemite.
Even with a baby you can go on a roadtrip :-)
Here are a few tips from us:
- crib - a lot of hotels have a shortage of cribs or they are not cheap at all (we were offered $10-$30 per night). Some airlines offer to check a crib or car seat along with the stroller for the infant ticket. We flew American Airlines and they allow two such bags. We decided to bring the car seat and bought the crib at the nearest Target ($60-100).
- Target often has a pharmacy, including medicine for children.
- you can board the plane with an infant first.
- an infant is not entitled to their own seat on the plane. Before take-off, ask the flight attendants to tell you if any seats will be available. Whoever is travelling with you can then change seats and you will have more room for your little one. The staff always tried to accommodate us.
- A baby carrier is also handy for the plane. We use a manduka and sometimes the staff on the plane find it sufficient and they won't even give you a seatbelt.
- you can also take water or different porridges for the baby on the plane, just expect a more thorough check.
- in NY use buses, travelling with a little one is much more pleasant than the subway. The tunnels are terribly hot in the summer and there are few escalators. There aren't many elevators either.
- Almost all hotels had a coffee machine in the rooms to make water for milk. And if there is not, they will help at the reception. Microwave for heating is not that common.
The travelogue for our trip was written by my dear wife ...
Flight to Dallas roughly 10h spiced with my 4 times vomiting and Sofina's pitiful looks over her mother.
Otherwise ❌️not expecting another gang member
✅️ Probably the English diet, lack of sleep, the decibels of wine after takeoff, a little turbulence, or a mix of all of those things together did me in.
It was only after about 5h of flight that Coca Cola helped, which Jožka honestly cleaned in the toilets, for which he deserves my big thanks ❤
In Dallas, we run out of the plane with 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 bag full of food for Joseph, a stroller, Joseph in a carrier and 1 spare bag for any further nausea. The plane is delayed and we have 1.5hrs to clear immigration, pick up our checked suitcase, re-check our suitcase, check all our bags again and move to the other side of the airport. So we sprint through the whole thing, halfway through Stepan shouts "it's like Home Alone, let's not lose Kevin or Sofinka" ...and as "Mr. Manager" said on the plane, "for a greaser", we are still here with a reserve.
We'll fly to Los Angeles in about 3 hours sleep.
The suitcase and the car seat are picked up safely to their destination. ...and Joseph? Yes so he flew with us and in the loop feed me and I'll sleep again so don't disturb me too much he participated. The rest of the children are already self-supporting except for one spilling a Coke on their daddy, which he was not happy about and one little girl was sad about it for a while.
After 24h on the road we pick up the car and go to buy a cot. 15min before closing time we run with 4 kids to target, where besides the cot, we take a cot, a box of nappies, toast, ham, cheese, a bag of apples for the kids for dinner or they would eat before midnight and in the morning they will be useful for breakfast... and now a 1.5-hour drive to Palm Springs. The weakest link of the trip was declared to be my mother.
It's 6.30 in the morning, all sun-drenched, and we're happily recounting our experiences from the trip and how glad we are that we made the flight in Dallas. Now comes that moment when the "Matrix" error occurs, or in our children's vocabulary, "failure". We will remember this moment in our travel journal. There were 2 solutions. By mutual agreement, we choose option 2.
Children rush off for a swim in the pool, Jožka goes to T-Mobile to get a new sim card/ mobile data. After repacking the suitcases, we load the car again so that we can unload the big suitcase again in a few days.
We're going to visit the Palm Springs Air museum. Joshka made a date with the receptionist, who was warmer than today, to at least get the usa phone working. The kids and I are learning the Fahrenheit scale to control the local air conditioners. We were thrilled with the museum, 3h are gone we don't even know how.
Outside of the free-running donkeys, the opportunity to buy a bunch of Route 66 memorabilia, we visited a business decorated with autographed bills from visitors, so they have one on the stairwell from us. It was a 2x 50 min drive, but well worth it.
Not much for me tonight. The neighbors above us have a child who practically screams all night, which is not compatible with a mother wondering if it's her child screaming. Of course, the rest of my traveling companions are asleep. We have first accommodation with breakfast. Well, in the morning we pack bags of water, juice, granola bar, compote, cutlery, muffin, which is surprisingly sweeter than the manager at the front desk in Palm Springs. So the kids have been eating pizza since dinner. Joseph inhales his muesli pocket and we speed off towards the Grand Canyon. Mr. Google is navigating today. No need to burden the family two days in a row, after all.
At the visitor center we buy a park ticket for the car for a nice 35,-$, which is valid for tomorrow. We board the bus (it is already included in the price of the paid admission) and drive to the Village. From there, the buses operate as hop on hop off at the various viewpoints. We walk part of the way, I have Joseph in a manduka. He falls asleep after a while. The Grand Canyon is one big wow. Actually, the whole time you're wondering if you're dreaming or if the scenery is real. It's indescribable and must be experienced. Sophie was designated as an explorer at the beginning of the trip, which may not have been entirely intentional, because her enthusiasm for the trip is really high, and we are already watching her from the opposite rocks. Her pace is killer and our desire to take photos and videos is slowing us down considerably. Fortunately, sometimes she also wants to take a photo so she waits for us. The final station Hermits Rest here is a refreshment stand and another breathtaking view. Joseph has a toothache and sleeps through the whole trip except for a food break.
Back the bus takes us without stops, because there was a storm in some parts, so according to the American motto "safety first", they take people to the main parking lot and close the park. If I was captivated by Denali Park in Alaska, the fjords in Norway, the Foz do Iguazú Falls in Brazil, the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the nature in New Zealand, the Grand Canyon is of course in the top ten.
I wake up at 4 o'clock to Joseph and unfortunately I don't manage to continue sleeping. Not that I don't want to, but there's still work to be done. Change, boil milk, change, teeth still hurt so we're taking nurofen for the temperature. Prepare fruit and veggies for the road, toast with ham and cheese. After yesterday's experience, the kids are packing the oreo yogurt I picked up at the store for breakfast. Which leads me to a thought.
If there's one thing I love about America, it's grocery shopping. The way they treat the customer. Sure they have it down pat, but why isn't it here? The cashier isn't stressed about having to ring up a certain number of items per minute, she doesn't crumple my food, pile it on top of each other, frown at me or pretend I'm bothering her. Alternatively, she's in death and will probably collapse at the register soon. She chats with you, sorts your purchases into bags/boxes and still asks if you found everything and are satisfied. For me, the brand is perfect.
Today there is a surprise for Štěpka and Jáchym. Jožka ordered a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon while planning their route. So we head to the local airport, where the boys go through a short instructional video and board the helicopter. The flight takes about 25min. In the meantime, Josef, Sofinka and I watch the helicopters landing and departing.
The boys return excitedly and head back to the Grand Canyon.
This time we are driving to the other side because we have new accommodation about 2,5h away. We are stopping at individual viewpoints. One's eyes are going over again. The children eagerly pose for more and more photos because it is supposedly even nicer here than at the last viewpoint, I hear over and over again. Jožka and I are already joking that we will have only one Grand Canyon album from the USA 🤣. The weather is really changeable here, so we get slightly wet before we walk back to the parking lot from the tower. Sophie has an association with the war in Ukraine on the way in running from the rain or I was said to look like I was running for cover and protecting a child. This is followed again by a conversation about Putin and the Russian people living in the Czech Republic and why they are fleeing the regime. Sometimes the thoughts going through their heads are surprising. We get in the car, Josífek is eating as much as he can and we drive to Page in the rain.
After unloading their suitcases, the children quickly put on their swimsuits and head to the reception to find out where the pool is. We're not sure there is one. As they stand in the hotel lobby dressed in their swimsuits and Sofi wearing a mask and fins, they exclaim that it would be really embarrassing to find out there's no pool. Fortunately, it turns out well and the receptionist directs them where to go. I repack the bags and prepare food and clothes for the next 24 for Joseph, who successfully attacks the toilet. We have it more intimate today than yesterday, but everyone still has a place to sleep and tomorrow morning we are on the road again.
The next location selected is Zion National Park. At the visitor center, we transfer to a bus and drive to the Temple of Sinawava, the last stop on our route through the park. We continue walking the Riverside walk. Sofi cools her feet in the river and Jáchym takes my turn in carrying Joseph, who falls asleep contentedly again. The park looks like a fairy tale. Nature is very diverse. Today's car journey time for transfers is about 3.5 hours.
At Wendys' dinner is unanimously voted the top 🐎 horse shoe of the day.
Local game room, laser game and go-karting. As a best of parents, we'll finish it off with an oreo shake at the Burger King, grocery shopping, goodies for the next few days and an evening swim with all the kids in the pool.
Packing, packing, packing ... today I go to sleep at 1 a.m. so that I can get up at 3 a.m. to Josífek and wake up the children with the morning crouping, as they say in Moravia. Time for a trip.
Before 10am we are already getting off at the parking lot in Grand Canyon West. Transfer from Las Vegas without stops 2h 20min. We buy tickets, get on the bus and go to the Eagle point lookout. We follow the glass arch over the canyon called the Skywalk. It is located on an Indian reservation at the west end of the canyon in an area inhabited by the Hualapai tribe. However, it is clear that the tribe itself could not fund the construction of the Skywalk. So the project was taken on by a Las Vegas businessman originally from China, David Jin, with whom the tribe will share the proceeds for the next 25 years. Other revenues will include operating a visitor center, restaurants, a hotel and hosting sightseeing rides in all-terrain vehicles. The entire lookout resembles a giant horseshoe and is made of ninety tons of specially tempered glass from Germany. According to the designers, the platform can bear a load equivalent to the weight of at least seventy Boeing 747 aircraft. For absolute safety, the observation deck is mounted on 94 metal rods drilled fourteen metres into the limestone massif. As you walk along, you can enjoy a tantalising view through the glass floor, the entire walkway extending 21 metres over the edge of the steep cliff, with 1200 metres of void below you, and only eight centimetres of glass separating you from the abyss. The whole thing would have been amazing if they hadn't confiscated our cell phones to take pictures before we entered and wanted to charge us an additional $25 for 1 photo (or $65 for 15 photos). Like, I understand that half of the 1,400 Hualapai tribe members are permanently unemployed, and a third live below the poverty line, but this is a rip-off. Anyway, we don't let it spoil our trip and stare into the canyon in amazement. We visit Indian dwellings and get off at other viewpoints along the bus route. It's just over 40°C. After eating breakfast in the car for 1,5 hours, Josífek eats another chicken pocket in the shade and with loud laughter arrives at the tourists and touis who can't resist the baby and start making monkeys on him. He's really cool about it, always looking at someone until he gives in and starts talking to us.
Finally, we head to the hotel lobby, where there is a casino or we have to try some local gambling. We change $75 in chips and go play roulette. Beginner's luck is filling in, and we win a color and a number in a four of a kind on the first play. Great! We put away what we put in and go on to successfully lose the remaining winnings.
Tough blow for a parent, but we'll give it a go today. Cold shower to start. We're packing up, the kids got used to the nomadic way of traveling very quickly. It's taking us less and less time to pack and unpack. I point out that it still involves moving all the stuff we have with us, so when we get off the hotel elevator people stare in puzzlement at the number of children getting off, festooned with bags and suitcases. All I hear is "big family". We do it all in one go, for example today I'm pulling a stroller with junior and a handbook in addition to 6 bags. You don't want to do it twice from the 23rd floor.
Drive 4h 40min and first turn after 150 miles. Today we have the longest move in one day. Although on net time in the car, it's on par with our trip to the Grand Canyon. A car enthusiast would weep for us, because to save time, all the feeding of the predators is done while driving. Pit stop for repacking is reduced to under 5 minutes including disposal of contaminated items. In the role of stocker I get sweaty every day, next time I should consider adding a plastic apron although I would certainly get moldy anyway. Our testing of American snacks continues, though not very satisfactorily today then, the food burns, burns and burns fiercely. The boys report that they are in tears and their stomachs are on fire. We will not be visiting Arbys again. So far, Wendy's, Subway, Panda and MC Donald are winning. Along the way, we manage the prospect of parked planes and a stop to restock at Walmart.
What about Mr. Joseph? After a proper breakfast and snack, he snapped and woke up on the spot. He's already cut two teeth. At the hotel, there will be a rewarding trip to the pool again and Joseph likes swimming very much.
Sometimes things happen on the road, like when you pay for gas, buy a coffee and leave after paying. Of course a habit is a habit, like in the Czech Republic, unfortunately in the US you fill up with your Czech fuel card after you pay, that is if you don't forget. Fortunately, after two days they returned our money back to the card.
Birthday morning starts with a great hotel breakfast with fresh fruit, white yogurt and tea in a porcelain mug. A very unusual phenomenon in the US. Everything sun-drenched goes a bit wrong when Sophie manages to break a glass of cough syrup in the hallway on her way out of the room. So I pick up the shards and Sofi gets the last dose of syrup ...hopefully she won't cough anymore or we don't have any other syrup. On the sticky floor I manage to slip a little on the way out of the room.
Sequoia national park destination of the day. About 4 hours on the road.
At the first viewpoint we take a picture with a giant boulder. Everything would have been great if I hadn't landed on my foot and stubbed my middle finger while trying to jump. The blues already know that this year our summer traveling trip cost me the pinky on my right foot and the middle and ring fingers on my left foot. So I'm going on vacation in one pair of sandals because I can't fit in any other shoes. Now I've given that healed middle toe an extra load. Good, I'll spend the rest of the park fortified with ibalgin for the pain. One redwood is nicer than the other.
The biggest attraction of the General Sherman tree is the roughly 2300 - 2700 year old, 83.8 m tall, and 7.7 m trunk diameter - it has 3 best - the oldest, tallest living and widest tree in the world. The Sherman Tree Trail leads to it, winding through a forest of giant sequoias. In addition to this, 4 other trees can be found in the park, which are some of the largest in the world in terms of wood volume. The giant sequoias are rightly referred to as mammoth trees. Walking through the Giant Forest, we felt like real dwarfs.In the park you can also see the highest mountain in the United States, Mount Whitney (4421 m above sea level) (if we take only the continent without Alaska). I can only recommend a visit to this park.
At the hotel I send the little boys out immediately for ice, not to drink, but to foot. The last link of the middle finger has gone black, so the birthday dinner is suddenly putting mommy to bed. Sophie prepares a salad from my supplies, the boys a toast and my husband a glass of wine. We're together.
It's unseasonably hot in the room. When we arrived, Josífek was quick to press the button on the wall by the air conditioner, thus disabling it. That's why we're asking for help at reception. The lady dismantles half of the air conditioner and I convince myself that we don't need the air conditioner. We need it, it's pouring with the boys and it's still 41° outside. So what? We're moving again? No, she kicked the old girl's ass, hallelujah!
Today was the first time it came up, I don't want to get up. Last night I cooked milk 2 times and at 4.30 I think Josífek was quite loud (I mean roaring like a lion) so he woke up everybody except sleeping Sofinka.
I'm the last to go for breakfast, I need a cold shower to wake my body up to life. The all-important evening preparations have not taken place. I'm throwing food into plastic bags, counting diapers, milk measuring cups, bottles, pouches, bodysuits,spoons,bibs.... socks. The kids excitedly welcome the news that they don't have to pack their suitcases today. We'll be back for another sleepover. Joseph Jr. is squishing the octopus with wet wipes. She probably deserved it. We drive to Yosemite National Park about 2hrs from the hotel + 2hrs back. In the car, we listen to the podcast "Bullshit and Politics". Surprisingly, we don't have a Lunetic to start today😂.
Before ten o'clock we are at the gate to the park. The downside to traveling blind is that you may find that you are not allowed in because you don't have a reservation for a pass. Okay, we're looking for WiFi because even the US data doesn't work here. At the nearest lodge, we find out that reservations are available for Tuesday. Good, today is Sunday and we don't want to wait until 4pm to get through here because we have 4 kids in the car and it's 10am. We drive a little further down to ask the local accommodation if maybe they have some possibility of a tour and give us a lift. Jozka comes with a reservation for a night in the park for 24$, which he says will let us into the park. After a while we go through the gate and Sofi asks me if there are bears, why the pine cones sting, if there are predatory fish and other tricky questions that a little traveler is interested in. The sight of Yosemite, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, makes your eyes cross. It is the third oldest park in America. The granite walls that tower like pillars of the emerald green Yosemite Valley with its streaks of waterfalls, the redwoods in Mariposa Grove peeking out like skyscrapers. You gasp at the beauty. Among the most famous peaks are El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Rock. Half Dome boasts a vertical drop of 93%, making it one of the steepest cliffs in North America. On one of her hikes, Sofi discovers a really nice stick that she needs about as much as the rocks from the Grand Canyon. If anyone in our car crew has an adventurous streak, it's Sofie. On the walk where we're cooling our feet after a while she decides we need to take a dip in the icy water and swim across. At another viewpoint, she tracks Daddy to the rocks. The desire to get a photo from one of them drives her to climb over a few trees, a log, hop over the rocks and she's on a boulder in the middle of the river. We discover a small sandy beach with crystal clear water and Josífek, after the initial hardening, splashes happily around and takes it on all fours. While fishing pebbles out of his mouth, I discover that he has 3 teeth out. You still feel a sense of wonder as you leave the park. This park is certainly worth a visit for a few days, unfortunately we don't have any more time.
How much is it? As much as this time yesterday. Okay. 24 minutes and it's packed to go.
Move to the next accommodation in 3h 15min. Remember the mistake in the Matrix on the morning of day 1 in Palm Springs? Well, today we're going to fix it. Hope 🙏for a happy ending at the end of the day. What's the deal? I'm traveling without a passport or driver's license. They were left at the rental car place the night after we arrived.
Wendy's...We're going to Wendy's? Yummy, I hear from the back row of the car.🤣 We've developed an addiction.
"Wanted" is looking for the toilet ghost that locks public restrooms. If you've heard of it, it moves very quietly, unobtrusively and its goal is clear - to lock up and leave the toilet. He creates queues in public toilets. We now know who is to blame, why he has to visit every toilet along the way and why he is there for so long! Caught red-handed and convicted with dirty clothes. Reason unexplained as "prenk". Wish I had figured it out sooner 🤦♀️ those locked toilets along the Los Angeles trail - Palm Springs, Grand Canyon, Zion national park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West, Delano, Sequoia national park, Yosemite national park. I apologize to all the women in line. You can't make this stuff up 😅🙈😅🤭
In the afternoon, visit Hollywood and the Walk of Fame. Documents picked up (1,2h + 1,2h back) - I will need them tomorrow.
Today's agenda is clear, pack up, load up and about 35 min drive to Universal studios, one of the most famous entertainment attractions in Los Angeles.
They opened on April 30, 1912, and are one of the oldest film studios on American soil. They are still used for filming movies and TV shows today, although over the years the giant complex, located in a part of Los Angeles called Universal City, has been transformed primarily into a theme park with dozens of rides, restaurants and gift shops.
Big deal....wow how big. Transformers wins for me, Sofi takes all the rollercoasters probably most of all The Mummy, Harry Potter right behind. But you can also see all of Simpsons Springfield, Jurassic World, Kung Fu Panda, Mimosa, The Secret Life of Pets.....
Sofie: God, why do my feet hurt?
Me: Sophie, because it's 7 p.m. and you've been walking since 10 a.m.
Sofie: And they're actually closing the park?
Me: Yes.
Sofie: That's a shame, although I think my legs would have fallen off.
She walked the last 3h or so in completely wet trainers because she couldn't miss the water rides. And in the car, she showed us her feet completely peeled off.
Next transfer to accommodation is about an hour.
We get to our new room a little after 9:30 in the evening. We unpack, wash, bathe and hop into our beds, getting up at 6.45 in the morning. And the kids, of course, a quick dip in the pool before it closes at 10pm.
Disney California Adventure park
Did we sleep at all?🤣 Josífek 6,47 is screaming as if he was taken on knives. Probably teeth. He already looks like a little vampire with the top 2 mini-teeth sticking out. So we don't have to worry about the wake up call. We're all awake. We've got a 7.40 bus to Disneyland, so we're picking up the pace.
It's a great day. The morning starts on the Ferris wheel at Sofinka's request. Josífek, under the bike, is struggling with American spaghetti, which is not eating, so I am already scraping spaghetti not only from the stroller, from my calves, but also from my forehead. There's a bit of it under the bench too, or he kicked the glass in one go when he was reaching for his bag. Fortunately, we don't have any more. We continue on to Guardians of the Galaxy (apparently it's a "mommy like when the elevator breaks off with you" type attraction) and check out the park. The kids get excited about the Incredicoaster roller coaster, where they get a 4x replay because you ride it upside down! Joseph and I relaxing in the shade. We can recommend Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, where they have great lemon ice cream. Josh and I take turns, so I manage a little Ariel the Mermaid with the kids and an awesome canyon ride in the cars from the cartoon Cars, which I was really impressed with - at times you actually wonder how they made that car move, it looks so real and the final race with the night lighting, was top. We were in the park from 8am to 9.30pm for a lovely 13.5 hours, with the kids only stopping in queues and 20mins for lunch. Sophie dancing at the end during the laser show, which we watched from the pier.
From the bus on the way to the hotel we see the fireworks from the second Disney park, which we watch from the hotel parking lot, whereupon the kids run to get their swimsuits and into the hot tub because it is open until 10pm. Yes, I don't understand where they get the energy all the time either 😅.
The cap doesn't hold the juice properly, she's going to spill it anyway.... before I finish, I'm going to spill the juice.
Good morning.
We're going back to Universal studios. We actually bought discounted tickets on Tuesday, where 1 day (outside of the pre-scheduled days) was free with the ticket. The plan is clear, once the park opens, we'll head to the outermost attractions where there are minimal people and wait times are only under 10 minutes. 2x Transformers, 4x Mummy roller coaster, 1x Jurassic World and move on to places we haven't looked yet. In the afternoon, we take an hour-long tour of the movie studios, which Joseph successfully sleeps through in a carrier, which none of us understands because King Kong is jumping around our cab, we take part in a shootout in The Fast and the Furious, or are part of the devastation of the subway. Movie tricks in all their glory. It's really hot outside, so we leave the park 30 minutes before closing time, completely drenched in sweat.
At the hotel, Sofinka quickly runs to the pool. At 9.30pm, the Disneyland fireworks start, so the kids watch from the pool as if this mega-long light show is just for them.
We are packing ...this time we need to repack all the luggage into the original economical form, at 17:00 we hand in the rental car and fly to New York.
What did we travel here? We have a rented Chrysler Pacifica - the car seats 7 people and has a fairly large trunk. It fits 1x large suitcase, 4 x carry-on bags, 1x folded stroller the size of a carry-on, 1x travel cot, a pack of 24x 0.5l water, and lots of bags and backpacks around the seats too. The Britax Römer "egg" car seat came with us, its check-in was included in the ticket price. We bought a seat for Sofi on the spot.
Today we went to a beach called Huntington beach in the afternoon. It's supposedly 13.5km long. Going to the beach before you fly is such a self-destructive thing. Even after x hours on the road, you're still kicking sand out of yourself. Sofi immediately found a friend to build a castle with. The boys were jumping in the waves and Joseph needed a taste of sand. We walked along the local pier and Sofi made plans that it would be nice to live across the road in these houses and spend our holidays swimming. We sample another local snack this time at Fat Bugrer, where they also make salads.
Today's departure is quite relaxing, Josífek is asleep, so we still hear from our fellow passengers at the airport how cute our baby is.
Our plan to sleep through the flight is not going well. Our seats on the plane are in the last row, where we can't recline the seat to sleep. So the toilets behind us are constantly being flushed, and there are rows of Korean tourists in front of us who keep shining their flashlights. The conditions for sleep are not good. It's not always dawn, but the tickets were cheap.
Arrival to NY at about 4.30am. We are going to the hotel to see if there is a possibility of early accommodation. Unfortunately, they are full and will not have a room for us until the afternoon.
So we leave our luggage here and go to Central Park for breakfast. We miss sunrise by about 10 minutes. We pass a plethora of early morning joggers. Sofi explores the local boulders, playgrounds and most importantly she can't be stopped from scaring the local pigeons. Jozka comes up with the idea of going to see the Statue of Liberty.
The neoclassical copper statue commemorates the friendship and assistance France extended to American settlers in 1776 in their fight for independence. The Statue of Liberty was brought to the U.S. in 350 pieces and was completed in four months and erected on October 28, 1886. It weighs about 203 tonnes and with the base measures 93 metres. In his right hand, the Statue of Liberty holds a torch nearly 13 metres long and in his left hand a book with the inscription "July IV MDCCLXXVI" - that is, July 4, 1776 - the day the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.
We're heading to the subway, then, for the ferry to Staten Island. Here, unfortunately, there are big temperature changes. In the New York subway, it's so hot and the smells so mixed that you struggle to catch your breath; the train, on the other hand, is heavily air-conditioned, which makes you feel like freezing early. As a result, I, Jáchym, Sofinka, and Štěpán fall asleep right after we see the Statue of Liberty. Sleeping on the ferry, in the subway, in the hotel lobby.... time shift did not contribute to the 2 hours of sleep on the plane. So we're like a traveling group of Sleeping Roses.
We live just off Times Square. Its not to be missed, both day and night, and there are markets on the street in front of the hotel on Saturdays, which we see for the first time....we go to sleep at about ten. Hopefully by night we'll be on time.
Today's breakfast will be provided by Jožka until bedtime, a beautiful New York wake-up call. The street's been busy since morning. Kids commenting on how it looks and why these people live on the street. After all, there are more of them here than in Prague. Today we travel exclusively by buses, a new experience for me and Jožeka, because in the past we travelled exclusively by subway in NY. It's one of the oldest and most extensive subways in the world. Its total length is 373 km, it passes through Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and you will find 468 stations. It's a nice change from the New York City subway, as it's not comfortable with a stroller - all narrow stairs up and down.
We're off to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & & Space Museum - a famous military, naval and, to a lesser extent, space museum that is one of the best and largest in its category in the world. The exhibits are breathtaking - you'll even find the Enterprise here. Under the open sky awaits a legend of world transport aviation - the supersonic Concorde aircraft in British Airways colours. After these planes went out of service, many of them flew their last legs to various museums around the world. A G-BOAD registration machine docked at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. There is also a part of the interior accessible, which unfortunately we can't get to because they are sold out for interesting times. The Growler submarine is the only one of its kind with guided missiles that is open to the public in the US. You can see almost the entire machine from the crew rooms to the control center to the popular torpedo chamber. On August 2, 2022, they celebrated 40 years since the museum opened.
Another move to a new prospect we haven't been to in the past, called The Edge. There is a glass floor here, which we (especially me, I guess) are attracted to. It opened in March 2020 and is located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. I highly recommend a visit, it's a really great experience.
We'll contribute in the morning. We didn't set the alarm. After a slightly chaotic morning, our goal today is clear - to visit One World Observatory - 102 floors in 47 seconds.
One World Trade Center, formerly known as Freedom Tower, is a skyscraper built near the site of the original World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We take the subway because it's the fastest way. This time we take all the kids with us and they manage the elevator up without any problems. The view of NY is breathtaking as always, no matter what vantage point you go to. They also have a commentary section, so after it's over I quiz the kids on what they remembered or understood correctly and what they take away about NYC. Josie is asleep as always. Probably no one would believe me, but 90% of the time in situations like this when we travel, he just sleeps in the carrier.
The boys are still going to visit the WTC memorial, including the underground,
Here's a bit of text from Joshka. The 9/11 memorial is one of the things one should not miss when visiting NY. The upper, open-air section, with the waterfalls where the original twin towers stood, is already impressive. The names of all the victims are listed around the edges.
The site is really "powerful" and very impressive. In the underground museum, the feelings are heightened. You can go through the events of that tragic day almost minute by minute. There are many exhibits from the original twin towers, firefighters' equipment, personal belongings of the victims ...
Sophie, Joseph and I want to go shopping for some school clothes. Unfortunately, our favorite mall is closed until spring 2023, so we end up at the Gap, where they have nice discounts and school gear is acquired. We arrive back at the hotel after 9pm and our feet are really hurting.
Last holiday morning, last packing of suitcases. We're rearranging suitcases to pack everything the kids are taking with them. Like the bow and arrows one little girl needed from the Disney store because the boys' one at home no longer survived her passion for shooting. This time we're bringing a purple one (better). The boys are figuring out new shoes so they don't get wrinkled, and I'm figuring out if I have enough food left for Joseph on the way back. We hide the suitcases in the hotel and go shopping with the kids. We have to be back by 3:00 and go to the airport. In the car we talk about our top 5 from the vacation, with the kids clearly winning Universal Studios Hollywood followed closely by Disneyland and The One Observatory in New York City, and me and Josh again choosing the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe, and the parks - Josh the Sequoia and me Yosemite.
itinerary by Riggs
Even with a baby you can go on a roadtrip :-)
Here are a few tips from us:
- crib - a lot of hotels have a shortage of cribs or they are not cheap at all (we were offered $10-$30 per night). Some airlines offer to check a crib or car seat along with the stroller for the infant ticket. We flew American Airlines and they allow two such bags. We decided to bring the car seat and bought the crib at the nearest Target ($60-100).
- Target often has a pharmacy, including medicine for children.
- you can board the plane with an infant first.
- an infant is not entitled to their own seat on the plane. Before take-off, ask the flight attendants to tell you if any seats will be available. Whoever is travelling with you can then change seats and you will have more room for your little one. The staff always tried to accommodate us.
- A baby carrier is also handy for the plane. We use a manduka and sometimes the staff on the plane find it sufficient and they won't even give you a seatbelt.
- you can also take water or different porridges for the baby on the plane, just expect a more thorough check.
- in NY use buses, travelling with a little one is much more pleasant than the subway. The tunnels are terribly hot in the summer and there are few escalators. There aren't many elevators either.
- Almost all hotels had a coffee machine in the rooms to make water for milk. And if there is not, they will help at the reception. Microwave for heating is not that common.
The travelogue for our trip was written by my dear wife ...
Flight to Dallas roughly 10h spiced with my 4 times vomiting and Sofina's pitiful looks over her mother.
Otherwise ❌️not expecting another gang member
✅️ Probably the English diet, lack of sleep, the decibels of wine after takeoff, a little turbulence, or a mix of all of those things together did me in.
It was only after about 5h of flight that Coca Cola helped, which Jožka honestly cleaned in the toilets, for which he deserves my big thanks ❤
In Dallas, we run out of the plane with 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 bag full of food for Joseph, a stroller, Joseph in a carrier and 1 spare bag for any further nausea. The plane is delayed and we have 1.5hrs to clear immigration, pick up our checked suitcase, re-check our suitcase, check all our bags again and move to the other side of the airport. So we sprint through the whole thing, halfway through Stepan shouts "it's like Home Alone, let's not lose Kevin or Sofinka" ...and as "Mr. Manager" said on the plane, "for a greaser", we are still here with a reserve.
We'll fly to Los Angeles in about 3 hours sleep.
The suitcase and the car seat are picked up safely to their destination. ...and Joseph? Yes so he flew with us and in the loop feed me and I'll sleep again so don't disturb me too much he participated. The rest of the children are already self-supporting except for one spilling a Coke on their daddy, which he was not happy about and one little girl was sad about it for a while.
After 24h on the road we pick up the car and go to buy a cot. 15min before closing time we run with 4 kids to target, where besides the cot, we take a cot, a box of nappies, toast, ham, cheese, a bag of apples for the kids for dinner or they would eat before midnight and in the morning they will be useful for breakfast... and now a 1.5-hour drive to Palm Springs. The weakest link of the trip was declared to be my mother.
It's 6.30 in the morning, all sun-drenched, and we're happily recounting our experiences from the trip and how glad we are that we made the flight in Dallas. Now comes that moment when the "Matrix" error occurs, or in our children's vocabulary, "failure". We will remember this moment in our travel journal. There were 2 solutions. By mutual agreement, we choose option 2.
Children rush off for a swim in the pool, Jožka goes to T-Mobile to get a new sim card/ mobile data. After repacking the suitcases, we load the car again so that we can unload the big suitcase again in a few days.
We're going to visit the Palm Springs Air museum. Joshka made a date with the receptionist, who was warmer than today, to at least get the usa phone working. The kids and I are learning the Fahrenheit scale to control the local air conditioners. We were thrilled with the museum, 3h are gone we don't even know how.
Outside of the free-running donkeys, the opportunity to buy a bunch of Route 66 memorabilia, we visited a business decorated with autographed bills from visitors, so they have one on the stairwell from us. It was a 2x 50 min drive, but well worth it.
Not much for me tonight. The neighbors above us have a child who practically screams all night, which is not compatible with a mother wondering if it's her child screaming. Of course, the rest of my traveling companions are asleep. We have first accommodation with breakfast. Well, in the morning we pack bags of water, juice, granola bar, compote, cutlery, muffin, which is surprisingly sweeter than the manager at the front desk in Palm Springs. So the kids have been eating pizza since dinner. Joseph inhales his muesli pocket and we speed off towards the Grand Canyon. Mr. Google is navigating today. No need to burden the family two days in a row, after all.
At the visitor center we buy a park ticket for the car for a nice 35,-$, which is valid for tomorrow. We board the bus (it is already included in the price of the paid admission) and drive to the Village. From there, the buses operate as hop on hop off at the various viewpoints. We walk part of the way, I have Joseph in a manduka. He falls asleep after a while. The Grand Canyon is one big wow. Actually, the whole time you're wondering if you're dreaming or if the scenery is real. It's indescribable and must be experienced. Sophie was designated as an explorer at the beginning of the trip, which may not have been entirely intentional, because her enthusiasm for the trip is really high, and we are already watching her from the opposite rocks. Her pace is killer and our desire to take photos and videos is slowing us down considerably. Fortunately, sometimes she also wants to take a photo so she waits for us. The final station Hermits Rest here is a refreshment stand and another breathtaking view. Joseph has a toothache and sleeps through the whole trip except for a food break.
Back the bus takes us without stops, because there was a storm in some parts, so according to the American motto "safety first", they take people to the main parking lot and close the park. If I was captivated by Denali Park in Alaska, the fjords in Norway, the Foz do Iguazú Falls in Brazil, the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the nature in New Zealand, the Grand Canyon is of course in the top ten.
I wake up at 4 o'clock to Joseph and unfortunately I don't manage to continue sleeping. Not that I don't want to, but there's still work to be done. Change, boil milk, change, teeth still hurt so we're taking nurofen for the temperature. Prepare fruit and veggies for the road, toast with ham and cheese. After yesterday's experience, the kids are packing the oreo yogurt I picked up at the store for breakfast. Which leads me to a thought.
If there's one thing I love about America, it's grocery shopping. The way they treat the customer. Sure they have it down pat, but why isn't it here? The cashier isn't stressed about having to ring up a certain number of items per minute, she doesn't crumple my food, pile it on top of each other, frown at me or pretend I'm bothering her. Alternatively, she's in death and will probably collapse at the register soon. She chats with you, sorts your purchases into bags/boxes and still asks if you found everything and are satisfied. For me, the brand is perfect.
Today there is a surprise for Štěpka and Jáchym. Jožka ordered a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon while planning their route. So we head to the local airport, where the boys go through a short instructional video and board the helicopter. The flight takes about 25min. In the meantime, Josef, Sofinka and I watch the helicopters landing and departing.
The boys return excitedly and head back to the Grand Canyon.
This time we are driving to the other side because we have new accommodation about 2,5h away. We are stopping at individual viewpoints. One's eyes are going over again. The children eagerly pose for more and more photos because it is supposedly even nicer here than at the last viewpoint, I hear over and over again. Jožka and I are already joking that we will have only one Grand Canyon album from the USA 🤣. The weather is really changeable here, so we get slightly wet before we walk back to the parking lot from the tower. Sophie has an association with the war in Ukraine on the way in running from the rain or I was said to look like I was running for cover and protecting a child. This is followed again by a conversation about Putin and the Russian people living in the Czech Republic and why they are fleeing the regime. Sometimes the thoughts going through their heads are surprising. We get in the car, Josífek is eating as much as he can and we drive to Page in the rain.
After unloading their suitcases, the children quickly put on their swimsuits and head to the reception to find out where the pool is. We're not sure there is one. As they stand in the hotel lobby dressed in their swimsuits and Sofi wearing a mask and fins, they exclaim that it would be really embarrassing to find out there's no pool. Fortunately, it turns out well and the receptionist directs them where to go. I repack the bags and prepare food and clothes for the next 24 for Joseph, who successfully attacks the toilet. We have it more intimate today than yesterday, but everyone still has a place to sleep and tomorrow morning we are on the road again.
The next location selected is Zion National Park. At the visitor center, we transfer to a bus and drive to the Temple of Sinawava, the last stop on our route through the park. We continue walking the Riverside walk. Sofi cools her feet in the river and Jáchym takes my turn in carrying Joseph, who falls asleep contentedly again. The park looks like a fairy tale. Nature is very diverse. Today's car journey time for transfers is about 3.5 hours.
At Wendys' dinner is unanimously voted the top 🐎 horse shoe of the day.
Local game room, laser game and go-karting. As a best of parents, we'll finish it off with an oreo shake at the Burger King, grocery shopping, goodies for the next few days and an evening swim with all the kids in the pool.
Packing, packing, packing ... today I go to sleep at 1 a.m. so that I can get up at 3 a.m. to Josífek and wake up the children with the morning crouping, as they say in Moravia. Time for a trip.
Before 10am we are already getting off at the parking lot in Grand Canyon West. Transfer from Las Vegas without stops 2h 20min. We buy tickets, get on the bus and go to the Eagle point lookout. We follow the glass arch over the canyon called the Skywalk. It is located on an Indian reservation at the west end of the canyon in an area inhabited by the Hualapai tribe. However, it is clear that the tribe itself could not fund the construction of the Skywalk. So the project was taken on by a Las Vegas businessman originally from China, David Jin, with whom the tribe will share the proceeds for the next 25 years. Other revenues will include operating a visitor center, restaurants, a hotel and hosting sightseeing rides in all-terrain vehicles. The entire lookout resembles a giant horseshoe and is made of ninety tons of specially tempered glass from Germany. According to the designers, the platform can bear a load equivalent to the weight of at least seventy Boeing 747 aircraft. For absolute safety, the observation deck is mounted on 94 metal rods drilled fourteen metres into the limestone massif. As you walk along, you can enjoy a tantalising view through the glass floor, the entire walkway extending 21 metres over the edge of the steep cliff, with 1200 metres of void below you, and only eight centimetres of glass separating you from the abyss. The whole thing would have been amazing if they hadn't confiscated our cell phones to take pictures before we entered and wanted to charge us an additional $25 for 1 photo (or $65 for 15 photos). Like, I understand that half of the 1,400 Hualapai tribe members are permanently unemployed, and a third live below the poverty line, but this is a rip-off. Anyway, we don't let it spoil our trip and stare into the canyon in amazement. We visit Indian dwellings and get off at other viewpoints along the bus route. It's just over 40°C. After eating breakfast in the car for 1,5 hours, Josífek eats another chicken pocket in the shade and with loud laughter arrives at the tourists and touis who can't resist the baby and start making monkeys on him. He's really cool about it, always looking at someone until he gives in and starts talking to us.
Finally, we head to the hotel lobby, where there is a casino or we have to try some local gambling. We change $75 in chips and go play roulette. Beginner's luck is filling in, and we win a color and a number in a four of a kind on the first play. Great! We put away what we put in and go on to successfully lose the remaining winnings.
Tough blow for a parent, but we'll give it a go today. Cold shower to start. We're packing up, the kids got used to the nomadic way of traveling very quickly. It's taking us less and less time to pack and unpack. I point out that it still involves moving all the stuff we have with us, so when we get off the hotel elevator people stare in puzzlement at the number of children getting off, festooned with bags and suitcases. All I hear is "big family". We do it all in one go, for example today I'm pulling a stroller with junior and a handbook in addition to 6 bags. You don't want to do it twice from the 23rd floor.
Drive 4h 40min and first turn after 150 miles. Today we have the longest move in one day. Although on net time in the car, it's on par with our trip to the Grand Canyon. A car enthusiast would weep for us, because to save time, all the feeding of the predators is done while driving. Pit stop for repacking is reduced to under 5 minutes including disposal of contaminated items. In the role of stocker I get sweaty every day, next time I should consider adding a plastic apron although I would certainly get moldy anyway. Our testing of American snacks continues, though not very satisfactorily today then, the food burns, burns and burns fiercely. The boys report that they are in tears and their stomachs are on fire. We will not be visiting Arbys again. So far, Wendy's, Subway, Panda and MC Donald are winning. Along the way, we manage the prospect of parked planes and a stop to restock at Walmart.
What about Mr. Joseph? After a proper breakfast and snack, he snapped and woke up on the spot. He's already cut two teeth. At the hotel, there will be a rewarding trip to the pool again and Joseph likes swimming very much.
Sometimes things happen on the road, like when you pay for gas, buy a coffee and leave after paying. Of course a habit is a habit, like in the Czech Republic, unfortunately in the US you fill up with your Czech fuel card after you pay, that is if you don't forget. Fortunately, after two days they returned our money back to the card.
Birthday morning starts with a great hotel breakfast with fresh fruit, white yogurt and tea in a porcelain mug. A very unusual phenomenon in the US. Everything sun-drenched goes a bit wrong when Sophie manages to break a glass of cough syrup in the hallway on her way out of the room. So I pick up the shards and Sofi gets the last dose of syrup ...hopefully she won't cough anymore or we don't have any other syrup. On the sticky floor I manage to slip a little on the way out of the room.
Sequoia national park destination of the day. About 4 hours on the road.
At the first viewpoint we take a picture with a giant boulder. Everything would have been great if I hadn't landed on my foot and stubbed my middle finger while trying to jump. The blues already know that this year our summer traveling trip cost me the pinky on my right foot and the middle and ring fingers on my left foot. So I'm going on vacation in one pair of sandals because I can't fit in any other shoes. Now I've given that healed middle toe an extra load. Good, I'll spend the rest of the park fortified with ibalgin for the pain. One redwood is nicer than the other.
The biggest attraction of the General Sherman tree is the roughly 2300 - 2700 year old, 83.8 m tall, and 7.7 m trunk diameter - it has 3 best - the oldest, tallest living and widest tree in the world. The Sherman Tree Trail leads to it, winding through a forest of giant sequoias. In addition to this, 4 other trees can be found in the park, which are some of the largest in the world in terms of wood volume. The giant sequoias are rightly referred to as mammoth trees. Walking through the Giant Forest, we felt like real dwarfs.In the park you can also see the highest mountain in the United States, Mount Whitney (4421 m above sea level) (if we take only the continent without Alaska). I can only recommend a visit to this park.
At the hotel I send the little boys out immediately for ice, not to drink, but to foot. The last link of the middle finger has gone black, so the birthday dinner is suddenly putting mommy to bed. Sophie prepares a salad from my supplies, the boys a toast and my husband a glass of wine. We're together.
It's unseasonably hot in the room. When we arrived, Josífek was quick to press the button on the wall by the air conditioner, thus disabling it. That's why we're asking for help at reception. The lady dismantles half of the air conditioner and I convince myself that we don't need the air conditioner. We need it, it's pouring with the boys and it's still 41° outside. So what? We're moving again? No, she kicked the old girl's ass, hallelujah!
Today was the first time it came up, I don't want to get up. Last night I cooked milk 2 times and at 4.30 I think Josífek was quite loud (I mean roaring like a lion) so he woke up everybody except sleeping Sofinka.
I'm the last to go for breakfast, I need a cold shower to wake my body up to life. The all-important evening preparations have not taken place. I'm throwing food into plastic bags, counting diapers, milk measuring cups, bottles, pouches, bodysuits,spoons,bibs.... socks. The kids excitedly welcome the news that they don't have to pack their suitcases today. We'll be back for another sleepover. Joseph Jr. is squishing the octopus with wet wipes. She probably deserved it. We drive to Yosemite National Park about 2hrs from the hotel + 2hrs back. In the car, we listen to the podcast "Bullshit and Politics". Surprisingly, we don't have a Lunetic to start today😂.
Before ten o'clock we are at the gate to the park. The downside to traveling blind is that you may find that you are not allowed in because you don't have a reservation for a pass. Okay, we're looking for WiFi because even the US data doesn't work here. At the nearest lodge, we find out that reservations are available for Tuesday. Good, today is Sunday and we don't want to wait until 4pm to get through here because we have 4 kids in the car and it's 10am. We drive a little further down to ask the local accommodation if maybe they have some possibility of a tour and give us a lift. Jozka comes with a reservation for a night in the park for 24$, which he says will let us into the park. After a while we go through the gate and Sofi asks me if there are bears, why the pine cones sting, if there are predatory fish and other tricky questions that a little traveler is interested in. The sight of Yosemite, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, makes your eyes cross. It is the third oldest park in America. The granite walls that tower like pillars of the emerald green Yosemite Valley with its streaks of waterfalls, the redwoods in Mariposa Grove peeking out like skyscrapers. You gasp at the beauty. Among the most famous peaks are El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Rock. Half Dome boasts a vertical drop of 93%, making it one of the steepest cliffs in North America. On one of her hikes, Sofi discovers a really nice stick that she needs about as much as the rocks from the Grand Canyon. If anyone in our car crew has an adventurous streak, it's Sofie. On the walk where we're cooling our feet after a while she decides we need to take a dip in the icy water and swim across. At another viewpoint, she tracks Daddy to the rocks. The desire to get a photo from one of them drives her to climb over a few trees, a log, hop over the rocks and she's on a boulder in the middle of the river. We discover a small sandy beach with crystal clear water and Josífek, after the initial hardening, splashes happily around and takes it on all fours. While fishing pebbles out of his mouth, I discover that he has 3 teeth out. You still feel a sense of wonder as you leave the park. This park is certainly worth a visit for a few days, unfortunately we don't have any more time.
How much is it? As much as this time yesterday. Okay. 24 minutes and it's packed to go.
Move to the next accommodation in 3h 15min. Remember the mistake in the Matrix on the morning of day 1 in Palm Springs? Well, today we're going to fix it. Hope 🙏for a happy ending at the end of the day. What's the deal? I'm traveling without a passport or driver's license. They were left at the rental car place the night after we arrived.
Wendy's...We're going to Wendy's? Yummy, I hear from the back row of the car.🤣 We've developed an addiction.
"Wanted" is looking for the toilet ghost that locks public restrooms. If you've heard of it, it moves very quietly, unobtrusively and its goal is clear - to lock up and leave the toilet. He creates queues in public toilets. We now know who is to blame, why he has to visit every toilet along the way and why he is there for so long! Caught red-handed and convicted with dirty clothes. Reason unexplained as "prenk". Wish I had figured it out sooner 🤦♀️ those locked toilets along the Los Angeles trail - Palm Springs, Grand Canyon, Zion national park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West, Delano, Sequoia national park, Yosemite national park. I apologize to all the women in line. You can't make this stuff up 😅🙈😅🤭
In the afternoon, visit Hollywood and the Walk of Fame. Documents picked up (1,2h + 1,2h back) - I will need them tomorrow.
Today's agenda is clear, pack up, load up and about 35 min drive to Universal studios, one of the most famous entertainment attractions in Los Angeles.
They opened on April 30, 1912, and are one of the oldest film studios on American soil. They are still used for filming movies and TV shows today, although over the years the giant complex, located in a part of Los Angeles called Universal City, has been transformed primarily into a theme park with dozens of rides, restaurants and gift shops.
Big deal....wow how big. Transformers wins for me, Sofi takes all the rollercoasters probably most of all The Mummy, Harry Potter right behind. But you can also see all of Simpsons Springfield, Jurassic World, Kung Fu Panda, Mimosa, The Secret Life of Pets.....
Sofie: God, why do my feet hurt?
Me: Sophie, because it's 7 p.m. and you've been walking since 10 a.m.
Sofie: And they're actually closing the park?
Me: Yes.
Sofie: That's a shame, although I think my legs would have fallen off.
She walked the last 3h or so in completely wet trainers because she couldn't miss the water rides. And in the car, she showed us her feet completely peeled off.
Next transfer to accommodation is about an hour.
We get to our new room a little after 9:30 in the evening. We unpack, wash, bathe and hop into our beds, getting up at 6.45 in the morning. And the kids, of course, a quick dip in the pool before it closes at 10pm.
Disney California Adventure park
Did we sleep at all?🤣 Josífek 6,47 is screaming as if he was taken on knives. Probably teeth. He already looks like a little vampire with the top 2 mini-teeth sticking out. So we don't have to worry about the wake up call. We're all awake. We've got a 7.40 bus to Disneyland, so we're picking up the pace.
It's a great day. The morning starts on the Ferris wheel at Sofinka's request. Josífek, under the bike, is struggling with American spaghetti, which is not eating, so I am already scraping spaghetti not only from the stroller, from my calves, but also from my forehead. There's a bit of it under the bench too, or he kicked the glass in one go when he was reaching for his bag. Fortunately, we don't have any more. We continue on to Guardians of the Galaxy (apparently it's a "mommy like when the elevator breaks off with you" type attraction) and check out the park. The kids get excited about the Incredicoaster roller coaster, where they get a 4x replay because you ride it upside down! Joseph and I relaxing in the shade. We can recommend Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, where they have great lemon ice cream. Josh and I take turns, so I manage a little Ariel the Mermaid with the kids and an awesome canyon ride in the cars from the cartoon Cars, which I was really impressed with - at times you actually wonder how they made that car move, it looks so real and the final race with the night lighting, was top. We were in the park from 8am to 9.30pm for a lovely 13.5 hours, with the kids only stopping in queues and 20mins for lunch. Sophie dancing at the end during the laser show, which we watched from the pier.
From the bus on the way to the hotel we see the fireworks from the second Disney park, which we watch from the hotel parking lot, whereupon the kids run to get their swimsuits and into the hot tub because it is open until 10pm. Yes, I don't understand where they get the energy all the time either 😅.
The cap doesn't hold the juice properly, she's going to spill it anyway.... before I finish, I'm going to spill the juice.
Good morning.
We're going back to Universal studios. We actually bought discounted tickets on Tuesday, where 1 day (outside of the pre-scheduled days) was free with the ticket. The plan is clear, once the park opens, we'll head to the outermost attractions where there are minimal people and wait times are only under 10 minutes. 2x Transformers, 4x Mummy roller coaster, 1x Jurassic World and move on to places we haven't looked yet. In the afternoon, we take an hour-long tour of the movie studios, which Joseph successfully sleeps through in a carrier, which none of us understands because King Kong is jumping around our cab, we take part in a shootout in The Fast and the Furious, or are part of the devastation of the subway. Movie tricks in all their glory. It's really hot outside, so we leave the park 30 minutes before closing time, completely drenched in sweat.
At the hotel, Sofinka quickly runs to the pool. At 9.30pm, the Disneyland fireworks start, so the kids watch from the pool as if this mega-long light show is just for them.
We are packing ...this time we need to repack all the luggage into the original economical form, at 17:00 we hand in the rental car and fly to New York.
What did we travel here? We have a rented Chrysler Pacifica - the car seats 7 people and has a fairly large trunk. It fits 1x large suitcase, 4 x carry-on bags, 1x folded stroller the size of a carry-on, 1x travel cot, a pack of 24x 0.5l water, and lots of bags and backpacks around the seats too. The Britax Römer "egg" car seat came with us, its check-in was included in the ticket price. We bought a seat for Sofi on the spot.
Today we went to a beach called Huntington beach in the afternoon. It's supposedly 13.5km long. Going to the beach before you fly is such a self-destructive thing. Even after x hours on the road, you're still kicking sand out of yourself. Sofi immediately found a friend to build a castle with. The boys were jumping in the waves and Joseph needed a taste of sand. We walked along the local pier and Sofi made plans that it would be nice to live across the road in these houses and spend our holidays swimming. We sample another local snack this time at Fat Bugrer, where they also make salads.
Today's departure is quite relaxing, Josífek is asleep, so we still hear from our fellow passengers at the airport how cute our baby is.
Our plan to sleep through the flight is not going well. Our seats on the plane are in the last row, where we can't recline the seat to sleep. So the toilets behind us are constantly being flushed, and there are rows of Korean tourists in front of us who keep shining their flashlights. The conditions for sleep are not good. It's not always dawn, but the tickets were cheap.
Arrival to NY at about 4.30am. We are going to the hotel to see if there is a possibility of early accommodation. Unfortunately, they are full and will not have a room for us until the afternoon.
So we leave our luggage here and go to Central Park for breakfast. We miss sunrise by about 10 minutes. We pass a plethora of early morning joggers. Sofi explores the local boulders, playgrounds and most importantly she can't be stopped from scaring the local pigeons. Jozka comes up with the idea of going to see the Statue of Liberty.
The neoclassical copper statue commemorates the friendship and assistance France extended to American settlers in 1776 in their fight for independence. The Statue of Liberty was brought to the U.S. in 350 pieces and was completed in four months and erected on October 28, 1886. It weighs about 203 tonnes and with the base measures 93 metres. In his right hand, the Statue of Liberty holds a torch nearly 13 metres long and in his left hand a book with the inscription "July IV MDCCLXXVI" - that is, July 4, 1776 - the day the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.
We're heading to the subway, then, for the ferry to Staten Island. Here, unfortunately, there are big temperature changes. In the New York subway, it's so hot and the smells so mixed that you struggle to catch your breath; the train, on the other hand, is heavily air-conditioned, which makes you feel like freezing early. As a result, I, Jáchym, Sofinka, and Štěpán fall asleep right after we see the Statue of Liberty. Sleeping on the ferry, in the subway, in the hotel lobby.... time shift did not contribute to the 2 hours of sleep on the plane. So we're like a traveling group of Sleeping Roses.
We live just off Times Square. Its not to be missed, both day and night, and there are markets on the street in front of the hotel on Saturdays, which we see for the first time....we go to sleep at about ten. Hopefully by night we'll be on time.
Today's breakfast will be provided by Jožka until bedtime, a beautiful New York wake-up call. The street's been busy since morning. Kids commenting on how it looks and why these people live on the street. After all, there are more of them here than in Prague. Today we travel exclusively by buses, a new experience for me and Jožeka, because in the past we travelled exclusively by subway in NY. It's one of the oldest and most extensive subways in the world. Its total length is 373 km, it passes through Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and you will find 468 stations. It's a nice change from the New York City subway, as it's not comfortable with a stroller - all narrow stairs up and down.
We're off to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & & Space Museum - a famous military, naval and, to a lesser extent, space museum that is one of the best and largest in its category in the world. The exhibits are breathtaking - you'll even find the Enterprise here. Under the open sky awaits a legend of world transport aviation - the supersonic Concorde aircraft in British Airways colours. After these planes went out of service, many of them flew their last legs to various museums around the world. A G-BOAD registration machine docked at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. There is also a part of the interior accessible, which unfortunately we can't get to because they are sold out for interesting times. The Growler submarine is the only one of its kind with guided missiles that is open to the public in the US. You can see almost the entire machine from the crew rooms to the control center to the popular torpedo chamber. On August 2, 2022, they celebrated 40 years since the museum opened.
Another move to a new prospect we haven't been to in the past, called The Edge. There is a glass floor here, which we (especially me, I guess) are attracted to. It opened in March 2020 and is located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. I highly recommend a visit, it's a really great experience.
We'll contribute in the morning. We didn't set the alarm. After a slightly chaotic morning, our goal today is clear - to visit One World Observatory - 102 floors in 47 seconds.
One World Trade Center, formerly known as Freedom Tower, is a skyscraper built near the site of the original World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We take the subway because it's the fastest way. This time we take all the kids with us and they manage the elevator up without any problems. The view of NY is breathtaking as always, no matter what vantage point you go to. They also have a commentary section, so after it's over I quiz the kids on what they remembered or understood correctly and what they take away about NYC. Josie is asleep as always. Probably no one would believe me, but 90% of the time in situations like this when we travel, he just sleeps in the carrier.
The boys are still going to visit the WTC memorial, including the underground,
Here's a bit of text from Joshka. The 9/11 memorial is one of the things one should not miss when visiting NY. The upper, open-air section, with the waterfalls where the original twin towers stood, is already impressive. The names of all the victims are listed around the edges.
The site is really "powerful" and very impressive. In the underground museum, the feelings are heightened. You can go through the events of that tragic day almost minute by minute. There are many exhibits from the original twin towers, firefighters' equipment, personal belongings of the victims ...
Sophie, Joseph and I want to go shopping for some school clothes. Unfortunately, our favorite mall is closed until spring 2023, so we end up at the Gap, where they have nice discounts and school gear is acquired. We arrive back at the hotel after 9pm and our feet are really hurting.
Last holiday morning, last packing of suitcases. We're rearranging suitcases to pack everything the kids are taking with them. Like the bow and arrows one little girl needed from the Disney store because the boys' one at home no longer survived her passion for shooting. This time we're bringing a purple one (better). The boys are figuring out new shoes so they don't get wrinkled, and I'm figuring out if I have enough food left for Joseph on the way back. We hide the suitcases in the hotel and go shopping with the kids. We have to be back by 3:00 and go to the airport. In the car we talk about our top 5 from the vacation, with the kids clearly winning Universal Studios Hollywood followed closely by Disneyland and The One Observatory in New York City, and me and Josh again choosing the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe, and the parks - Josh the Sequoia and me Yosemite.
Even with a baby you can go on a roadtrip :-)
Here are a few tips from us:
- crib - a lot of hotels have a shortage of cribs or they are not cheap at all (we were offered $10-$30 per night). Some airlines offer to check a crib or car seat along with the stroller for the infant ticket. We flew American Airlines and they allow two such bags. We decided to bring the car seat and bought the crib at the nearest Target ($60-100).
- Target often has a pharmacy, including medicine for children.
- you can board the plane with an infant first.
- an infant is not entitled to their own seat on the plane. Before take-off, ask the flight attendants to tell you if any seats will be available. Whoever is travelling with you can then change seats and you will have more room for your little one. The staff always tried to accommodate us.
- A baby carrier is also handy for the plane. We use a manduka and sometimes the staff on the plane find it sufficient and they won't even give you a seatbelt.
- you can also take water or different porridges for the baby on the plane, just expect a more thorough check.
- in NY use buses, travelling with a little one is much more pleasant than the subway. The tunnels are terribly hot in the summer and there are few escalators. There aren't many elevators either.
- Almost all hotels had a coffee machine in the rooms to make water for milk. And if there is not, they will help at the reception. Microwave for heating is not that common.
The travelogue for our trip was written by my dear wife ...
Flight to Dallas roughly 10h spiced with my 4 times vomiting and Sofina's pitiful looks over her mother.
Otherwise ❌️not expecting another gang member
✅️ Probably the English diet, lack of sleep, the decibels of wine after takeoff, a little turbulence, or a mix of all of those things together did me in.
It was only after about 5h of flight that Coca Cola helped, which Jožka honestly cleaned in the toilets, for which he deserves my big thanks ❤
In Dallas, we run out of the plane with 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 bag full of food for Joseph, a stroller, Joseph in a carrier and 1 spare bag for any further nausea. The plane is delayed and we have 1.5hrs to clear immigration, pick up our checked suitcase, re-check our suitcase, check all our bags again and move to the other side of the airport. So we sprint through the whole thing, halfway through Stepan shouts "it's like Home Alone, let's not lose Kevin or Sofinka" ...and as "Mr. Manager" said on the plane, "for a greaser", we are still here with a reserve.
We'll fly to Los Angeles in about 3 hours sleep.
The suitcase and the car seat are picked up safely to their destination. ...and Joseph? Yes so he flew with us and in the loop feed me and I'll sleep again so don't disturb me too much he participated. The rest of the children are already self-supporting except for one spilling a Coke on their daddy, which he was not happy about and one little girl was sad about it for a while.
After 24h on the road we pick up the car and go to buy a cot. 15min before closing time we run with 4 kids to target, where besides the cot, we take a cot, a box of nappies, toast, ham, cheese, a bag of apples for the kids for dinner or they would eat before midnight and in the morning they will be useful for breakfast... and now a 1.5-hour drive to Palm Springs. The weakest link of the trip was declared to be my mother.
It's 6.30 in the morning, all sun-drenched, and we're happily recounting our experiences from the trip and how glad we are that we made the flight in Dallas. Now comes that moment when the "Matrix" error occurs, or in our children's vocabulary, "failure". We will remember this moment in our travel journal. There were 2 solutions. By mutual agreement, we choose option 2.
Children rush off for a swim in the pool, Jožka goes to T-Mobile to get a new sim card/ mobile data. After repacking the suitcases, we load the car again so that we can unload the big suitcase again in a few days.
We're going to visit the Palm Springs Air museum. Joshka made a date with the receptionist, who was warmer than today, to at least get the usa phone working. The kids and I are learning the Fahrenheit scale to control the local air conditioners. We were thrilled with the museum, 3h are gone we don't even know how.
Outside of the free-running donkeys, the opportunity to buy a bunch of Route 66 memorabilia, we visited a business decorated with autographed bills from visitors, so they have one on the stairwell from us. It was a 2x 50 min drive, but well worth it.
Not much for me tonight. The neighbors above us have a child who practically screams all night, which is not compatible with a mother wondering if it's her child screaming. Of course, the rest of my traveling companions are asleep. We have first accommodation with breakfast. Well, in the morning we pack bags of water, juice, granola bar, compote, cutlery, muffin, which is surprisingly sweeter than the manager at the front desk in Palm Springs. So the kids have been eating pizza since dinner. Joseph inhales his muesli pocket and we speed off towards the Grand Canyon. Mr. Google is navigating today. No need to burden the family two days in a row, after all.
At the visitor center we buy a park ticket for the car for a nice 35,-$, which is valid for tomorrow. We board the bus (it is already included in the price of the paid admission) and drive to the Village. From there, the buses operate as hop on hop off at the various viewpoints. We walk part of the way, I have Joseph in a manduka. He falls asleep after a while. The Grand Canyon is one big wow. Actually, the whole time you're wondering if you're dreaming or if the scenery is real. It's indescribable and must be experienced. Sophie was designated as an explorer at the beginning of the trip, which may not have been entirely intentional, because her enthusiasm for the trip is really high, and we are already watching her from the opposite rocks. Her pace is killer and our desire to take photos and videos is slowing us down considerably. Fortunately, sometimes she also wants to take a photo so she waits for us. The final station Hermits Rest here is a refreshment stand and another breathtaking view. Joseph has a toothache and sleeps through the whole trip except for a food break.
Back the bus takes us without stops, because there was a storm in some parts, so according to the American motto "safety first", they take people to the main parking lot and close the park. If I was captivated by Denali Park in Alaska, the fjords in Norway, the Foz do Iguazú Falls in Brazil, the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the nature in New Zealand, the Grand Canyon is of course in the top ten.
I wake up at 4 o'clock to Joseph and unfortunately I don't manage to continue sleeping. Not that I don't want to, but there's still work to be done. Change, boil milk, change, teeth still hurt so we're taking nurofen for the temperature. Prepare fruit and veggies for the road, toast with ham and cheese. After yesterday's experience, the kids are packing the oreo yogurt I picked up at the store for breakfast. Which leads me to a thought.
If there's one thing I love about America, it's grocery shopping. The way they treat the customer. Sure they have it down pat, but why isn't it here? The cashier isn't stressed about having to ring up a certain number of items per minute, she doesn't crumple my food, pile it on top of each other, frown at me or pretend I'm bothering her. Alternatively, she's in death and will probably collapse at the register soon. She chats with you, sorts your purchases into bags/boxes and still asks if you found everything and are satisfied. For me, the brand is perfect.
Today there is a surprise for Štěpka and Jáchym. Jožka ordered a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon while planning their route. So we head to the local airport, where the boys go through a short instructional video and board the helicopter. The flight takes about 25min. In the meantime, Josef, Sofinka and I watch the helicopters landing and departing.
The boys return excitedly and head back to the Grand Canyon.
This time we are driving to the other side because we have new accommodation about 2,5h away. We are stopping at individual viewpoints. One's eyes are going over again. The children eagerly pose for more and more photos because it is supposedly even nicer here than at the last viewpoint, I hear over and over again. Jožka and I are already joking that we will have only one Grand Canyon album from the USA 🤣. The weather is really changeable here, so we get slightly wet before we walk back to the parking lot from the tower. Sophie has an association with the war in Ukraine on the way in running from the rain or I was said to look like I was running for cover and protecting a child. This is followed again by a conversation about Putin and the Russian people living in the Czech Republic and why they are fleeing the regime. Sometimes the thoughts going through their heads are surprising. We get in the car, Josífek is eating as much as he can and we drive to Page in the rain.
After unloading their suitcases, the children quickly put on their swimsuits and head to the reception to find out where the pool is. We're not sure there is one. As they stand in the hotel lobby dressed in their swimsuits and Sofi wearing a mask and fins, they exclaim that it would be really embarrassing to find out there's no pool. Fortunately, it turns out well and the receptionist directs them where to go. I repack the bags and prepare food and clothes for the next 24 for Joseph, who successfully attacks the toilet. We have it more intimate today than yesterday, but everyone still has a place to sleep and tomorrow morning we are on the road again.
The next location selected is Zion National Park. At the visitor center, we transfer to a bus and drive to the Temple of Sinawava, the last stop on our route through the park. We continue walking the Riverside walk. Sofi cools her feet in the river and Jáchym takes my turn in carrying Joseph, who falls asleep contentedly again. The park looks like a fairy tale. Nature is very diverse. Today's car journey time for transfers is about 3.5 hours.
At Wendys' dinner is unanimously voted the top 🐎 horse shoe of the day.
Local game room, laser game and go-karting. As a best of parents, we'll finish it off with an oreo shake at the Burger King, grocery shopping, goodies for the next few days and an evening swim with all the kids in the pool.
Packing, packing, packing ... today I go to sleep at 1 a.m. so that I can get up at 3 a.m. to Josífek and wake up the children with the morning crouping, as they say in Moravia. Time for a trip.
Before 10am we are already getting off at the parking lot in Grand Canyon West. Transfer from Las Vegas without stops 2h 20min. We buy tickets, get on the bus and go to the Eagle point lookout. We follow the glass arch over the canyon called the Skywalk. It is located on an Indian reservation at the west end of the canyon in an area inhabited by the Hualapai tribe. However, it is clear that the tribe itself could not fund the construction of the Skywalk. So the project was taken on by a Las Vegas businessman originally from China, David Jin, with whom the tribe will share the proceeds for the next 25 years. Other revenues will include operating a visitor center, restaurants, a hotel and hosting sightseeing rides in all-terrain vehicles. The entire lookout resembles a giant horseshoe and is made of ninety tons of specially tempered glass from Germany. According to the designers, the platform can bear a load equivalent to the weight of at least seventy Boeing 747 aircraft. For absolute safety, the observation deck is mounted on 94 metal rods drilled fourteen metres into the limestone massif. As you walk along, you can enjoy a tantalising view through the glass floor, the entire walkway extending 21 metres over the edge of the steep cliff, with 1200 metres of void below you, and only eight centimetres of glass separating you from the abyss. The whole thing would have been amazing if they hadn't confiscated our cell phones to take pictures before we entered and wanted to charge us an additional $25 for 1 photo (or $65 for 15 photos). Like, I understand that half of the 1,400 Hualapai tribe members are permanently unemployed, and a third live below the poverty line, but this is a rip-off. Anyway, we don't let it spoil our trip and stare into the canyon in amazement. We visit Indian dwellings and get off at other viewpoints along the bus route. It's just over 40°C. After eating breakfast in the car for 1,5 hours, Josífek eats another chicken pocket in the shade and with loud laughter arrives at the tourists and touis who can't resist the baby and start making monkeys on him. He's really cool about it, always looking at someone until he gives in and starts talking to us.
Finally, we head to the hotel lobby, where there is a casino or we have to try some local gambling. We change $75 in chips and go play roulette. Beginner's luck is filling in, and we win a color and a number in a four of a kind on the first play. Great! We put away what we put in and go on to successfully lose the remaining winnings.
Tough blow for a parent, but we'll give it a go today. Cold shower to start. We're packing up, the kids got used to the nomadic way of traveling very quickly. It's taking us less and less time to pack and unpack. I point out that it still involves moving all the stuff we have with us, so when we get off the hotel elevator people stare in puzzlement at the number of children getting off, festooned with bags and suitcases. All I hear is "big family". We do it all in one go, for example today I'm pulling a stroller with junior and a handbook in addition to 6 bags. You don't want to do it twice from the 23rd floor.
Drive 4h 40min and first turn after 150 miles. Today we have the longest move in one day. Although on net time in the car, it's on par with our trip to the Grand Canyon. A car enthusiast would weep for us, because to save time, all the feeding of the predators is done while driving. Pit stop for repacking is reduced to under 5 minutes including disposal of contaminated items. In the role of stocker I get sweaty every day, next time I should consider adding a plastic apron although I would certainly get moldy anyway. Our testing of American snacks continues, though not very satisfactorily today then, the food burns, burns and burns fiercely. The boys report that they are in tears and their stomachs are on fire. We will not be visiting Arbys again. So far, Wendy's, Subway, Panda and MC Donald are winning. Along the way, we manage the prospect of parked planes and a stop to restock at Walmart.
What about Mr. Joseph? After a proper breakfast and snack, he snapped and woke up on the spot. He's already cut two teeth. At the hotel, there will be a rewarding trip to the pool again and Joseph likes swimming very much.
Sometimes things happen on the road, like when you pay for gas, buy a coffee and leave after paying. Of course a habit is a habit, like in the Czech Republic, unfortunately in the US you fill up with your Czech fuel card after you pay, that is if you don't forget. Fortunately, after two days they returned our money back to the card.
Birthday morning starts with a great hotel breakfast with fresh fruit, white yogurt and tea in a porcelain mug. A very unusual phenomenon in the US. Everything sun-drenched goes a bit wrong when Sophie manages to break a glass of cough syrup in the hallway on her way out of the room. So I pick up the shards and Sofi gets the last dose of syrup ...hopefully she won't cough anymore or we don't have any other syrup. On the sticky floor I manage to slip a little on the way out of the room.
Sequoia national park destination of the day. About 4 hours on the road.
At the first viewpoint we take a picture with a giant boulder. Everything would have been great if I hadn't landed on my foot and stubbed my middle finger while trying to jump. The blues already know that this year our summer traveling trip cost me the pinky on my right foot and the middle and ring fingers on my left foot. So I'm going on vacation in one pair of sandals because I can't fit in any other shoes. Now I've given that healed middle toe an extra load. Good, I'll spend the rest of the park fortified with ibalgin for the pain. One redwood is nicer than the other.
The biggest attraction of the General Sherman tree is the roughly 2300 - 2700 year old, 83.8 m tall, and 7.7 m trunk diameter - it has 3 best - the oldest, tallest living and widest tree in the world. The Sherman Tree Trail leads to it, winding through a forest of giant sequoias. In addition to this, 4 other trees can be found in the park, which are some of the largest in the world in terms of wood volume. The giant sequoias are rightly referred to as mammoth trees. Walking through the Giant Forest, we felt like real dwarfs.In the park you can also see the highest mountain in the United States, Mount Whitney (4421 m above sea level) (if we take only the continent without Alaska). I can only recommend a visit to this park.
At the hotel I send the little boys out immediately for ice, not to drink, but to foot. The last link of the middle finger has gone black, so the birthday dinner is suddenly putting mommy to bed. Sophie prepares a salad from my supplies, the boys a toast and my husband a glass of wine. We're together.
It's unseasonably hot in the room. When we arrived, Josífek was quick to press the button on the wall by the air conditioner, thus disabling it. That's why we're asking for help at reception. The lady dismantles half of the air conditioner and I convince myself that we don't need the air conditioner. We need it, it's pouring with the boys and it's still 41° outside. So what? We're moving again? No, she kicked the old girl's ass, hallelujah!
Today was the first time it came up, I don't want to get up. Last night I cooked milk 2 times and at 4.30 I think Josífek was quite loud (I mean roaring like a lion) so he woke up everybody except sleeping Sofinka.
I'm the last to go for breakfast, I need a cold shower to wake my body up to life. The all-important evening preparations have not taken place. I'm throwing food into plastic bags, counting diapers, milk measuring cups, bottles, pouches, bodysuits,spoons,bibs.... socks. The kids excitedly welcome the news that they don't have to pack their suitcases today. We'll be back for another sleepover. Joseph Jr. is squishing the octopus with wet wipes. She probably deserved it. We drive to Yosemite National Park about 2hrs from the hotel + 2hrs back. In the car, we listen to the podcast "Bullshit and Politics". Surprisingly, we don't have a Lunetic to start today😂.
Before ten o'clock we are at the gate to the park. The downside to traveling blind is that you may find that you are not allowed in because you don't have a reservation for a pass. Okay, we're looking for WiFi because even the US data doesn't work here. At the nearest lodge, we find out that reservations are available for Tuesday. Good, today is Sunday and we don't want to wait until 4pm to get through here because we have 4 kids in the car and it's 10am. We drive a little further down to ask the local accommodation if maybe they have some possibility of a tour and give us a lift. Jozka comes with a reservation for a night in the park for 24$, which he says will let us into the park. After a while we go through the gate and Sofi asks me if there are bears, why the pine cones sting, if there are predatory fish and other tricky questions that a little traveler is interested in. The sight of Yosemite, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, makes your eyes cross. It is the third oldest park in America. The granite walls that tower like pillars of the emerald green Yosemite Valley with its streaks of waterfalls, the redwoods in Mariposa Grove peeking out like skyscrapers. You gasp at the beauty. Among the most famous peaks are El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Rock. Half Dome boasts a vertical drop of 93%, making it one of the steepest cliffs in North America. On one of her hikes, Sofi discovers a really nice stick that she needs about as much as the rocks from the Grand Canyon. If anyone in our car crew has an adventurous streak, it's Sofie. On the walk where we're cooling our feet after a while she decides we need to take a dip in the icy water and swim across. At another viewpoint, she tracks Daddy to the rocks. The desire to get a photo from one of them drives her to climb over a few trees, a log, hop over the rocks and she's on a boulder in the middle of the river. We discover a small sandy beach with crystal clear water and Josífek, after the initial hardening, splashes happily around and takes it on all fours. While fishing pebbles out of his mouth, I discover that he has 3 teeth out. You still feel a sense of wonder as you leave the park. This park is certainly worth a visit for a few days, unfortunately we don't have any more time.
How much is it? As much as this time yesterday. Okay. 24 minutes and it's packed to go.
Move to the next accommodation in 3h 15min. Remember the mistake in the Matrix on the morning of day 1 in Palm Springs? Well, today we're going to fix it. Hope 🙏for a happy ending at the end of the day. What's the deal? I'm traveling without a passport or driver's license. They were left at the rental car place the night after we arrived.
Wendy's...We're going to Wendy's? Yummy, I hear from the back row of the car.🤣 We've developed an addiction.
"Wanted" is looking for the toilet ghost that locks public restrooms. If you've heard of it, it moves very quietly, unobtrusively and its goal is clear - to lock up and leave the toilet. He creates queues in public toilets. We now know who is to blame, why he has to visit every toilet along the way and why he is there for so long! Caught red-handed and convicted with dirty clothes. Reason unexplained as "prenk". Wish I had figured it out sooner 🤦♀️ those locked toilets along the Los Angeles trail - Palm Springs, Grand Canyon, Zion national park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West, Delano, Sequoia national park, Yosemite national park. I apologize to all the women in line. You can't make this stuff up 😅🙈😅🤭
In the afternoon, visit Hollywood and the Walk of Fame. Documents picked up (1,2h + 1,2h back) - I will need them tomorrow.
Today's agenda is clear, pack up, load up and about 35 min drive to Universal studios, one of the most famous entertainment attractions in Los Angeles.
They opened on April 30, 1912, and are one of the oldest film studios on American soil. They are still used for filming movies and TV shows today, although over the years the giant complex, located in a part of Los Angeles called Universal City, has been transformed primarily into a theme park with dozens of rides, restaurants and gift shops.
Big deal....wow how big. Transformers wins for me, Sofi takes all the rollercoasters probably most of all The Mummy, Harry Potter right behind. But you can also see all of Simpsons Springfield, Jurassic World, Kung Fu Panda, Mimosa, The Secret Life of Pets.....
Sofie: God, why do my feet hurt?
Me: Sophie, because it's 7 p.m. and you've been walking since 10 a.m.
Sofie: And they're actually closing the park?
Me: Yes.
Sofie: That's a shame, although I think my legs would have fallen off.
She walked the last 3h or so in completely wet trainers because she couldn't miss the water rides. And in the car, she showed us her feet completely peeled off.
Next transfer to accommodation is about an hour.
We get to our new room a little after 9:30 in the evening. We unpack, wash, bathe and hop into our beds, getting up at 6.45 in the morning. And the kids, of course, a quick dip in the pool before it closes at 10pm.
Disney California Adventure park
Did we sleep at all?🤣 Josífek 6,47 is screaming as if he was taken on knives. Probably teeth. He already looks like a little vampire with the top 2 mini-teeth sticking out. So we don't have to worry about the wake up call. We're all awake. We've got a 7.40 bus to Disneyland, so we're picking up the pace.
It's a great day. The morning starts on the Ferris wheel at Sofinka's request. Josífek, under the bike, is struggling with American spaghetti, which is not eating, so I am already scraping spaghetti not only from the stroller, from my calves, but also from my forehead. There's a bit of it under the bench too, or he kicked the glass in one go when he was reaching for his bag. Fortunately, we don't have any more. We continue on to Guardians of the Galaxy (apparently it's a "mommy like when the elevator breaks off with you" type attraction) and check out the park. The kids get excited about the Incredicoaster roller coaster, where they get a 4x replay because you ride it upside down! Joseph and I relaxing in the shade. We can recommend Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, where they have great lemon ice cream. Josh and I take turns, so I manage a little Ariel the Mermaid with the kids and an awesome canyon ride in the cars from the cartoon Cars, which I was really impressed with - at times you actually wonder how they made that car move, it looks so real and the final race with the night lighting, was top. We were in the park from 8am to 9.30pm for a lovely 13.5 hours, with the kids only stopping in queues and 20mins for lunch. Sophie dancing at the end during the laser show, which we watched from the pier.
From the bus on the way to the hotel we see the fireworks from the second Disney park, which we watch from the hotel parking lot, whereupon the kids run to get their swimsuits and into the hot tub because it is open until 10pm. Yes, I don't understand where they get the energy all the time either 😅.
The cap doesn't hold the juice properly, she's going to spill it anyway.... before I finish, I'm going to spill the juice.
Good morning.
We're going back to Universal studios. We actually bought discounted tickets on Tuesday, where 1 day (outside of the pre-scheduled days) was free with the ticket. The plan is clear, once the park opens, we'll head to the outermost attractions where there are minimal people and wait times are only under 10 minutes. 2x Transformers, 4x Mummy roller coaster, 1x Jurassic World and move on to places we haven't looked yet. In the afternoon, we take an hour-long tour of the movie studios, which Joseph successfully sleeps through in a carrier, which none of us understands because King Kong is jumping around our cab, we take part in a shootout in The Fast and the Furious, or are part of the devastation of the subway. Movie tricks in all their glory. It's really hot outside, so we leave the park 30 minutes before closing time, completely drenched in sweat.
At the hotel, Sofinka quickly runs to the pool. At 9.30pm, the Disneyland fireworks start, so the kids watch from the pool as if this mega-long light show is just for them.
We are packing ...this time we need to repack all the luggage into the original economical form, at 17:00 we hand in the rental car and fly to New York.
What did we travel here? We have a rented Chrysler Pacifica - the car seats 7 people and has a fairly large trunk. It fits 1x large suitcase, 4 x carry-on bags, 1x folded stroller the size of a carry-on, 1x travel cot, a pack of 24x 0.5l water, and lots of bags and backpacks around the seats too. The Britax Römer "egg" car seat came with us, its check-in was included in the ticket price. We bought a seat for Sofi on the spot.
Today we went to a beach called Huntington beach in the afternoon. It's supposedly 13.5km long. Going to the beach before you fly is such a self-destructive thing. Even after x hours on the road, you're still kicking sand out of yourself. Sofi immediately found a friend to build a castle with. The boys were jumping in the waves and Joseph needed a taste of sand. We walked along the local pier and Sofi made plans that it would be nice to live across the road in these houses and spend our holidays swimming. We sample another local snack this time at Fat Bugrer, where they also make salads.
Today's departure is quite relaxing, Josífek is asleep, so we still hear from our fellow passengers at the airport how cute our baby is.
Our plan to sleep through the flight is not going well. Our seats on the plane are in the last row, where we can't recline the seat to sleep. So the toilets behind us are constantly being flushed, and there are rows of Korean tourists in front of us who keep shining their flashlights. The conditions for sleep are not good. It's not always dawn, but the tickets were cheap.
Arrival to NY at about 4.30am. We are going to the hotel to see if there is a possibility of early accommodation. Unfortunately, they are full and will not have a room for us until the afternoon.
So we leave our luggage here and go to Central Park for breakfast. We miss sunrise by about 10 minutes. We pass a plethora of early morning joggers. Sofi explores the local boulders, playgrounds and most importantly she can't be stopped from scaring the local pigeons. Jozka comes up with the idea of going to see the Statue of Liberty.
The neoclassical copper statue commemorates the friendship and assistance France extended to American settlers in 1776 in their fight for independence. The Statue of Liberty was brought to the U.S. in 350 pieces and was completed in four months and erected on October 28, 1886. It weighs about 203 tonnes and with the base measures 93 metres. In his right hand, the Statue of Liberty holds a torch nearly 13 metres long and in his left hand a book with the inscription "July IV MDCCLXXVI" - that is, July 4, 1776 - the day the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.
We're heading to the subway, then, for the ferry to Staten Island. Here, unfortunately, there are big temperature changes. In the New York subway, it's so hot and the smells so mixed that you struggle to catch your breath; the train, on the other hand, is heavily air-conditioned, which makes you feel like freezing early. As a result, I, Jáchym, Sofinka, and Štěpán fall asleep right after we see the Statue of Liberty. Sleeping on the ferry, in the subway, in the hotel lobby.... time shift did not contribute to the 2 hours of sleep on the plane. So we're like a traveling group of Sleeping Roses.
We live just off Times Square. Its not to be missed, both day and night, and there are markets on the street in front of the hotel on Saturdays, which we see for the first time....we go to sleep at about ten. Hopefully by night we'll be on time.
Today's breakfast will be provided by Jožka until bedtime, a beautiful New York wake-up call. The street's been busy since morning. Kids commenting on how it looks and why these people live on the street. After all, there are more of them here than in Prague. Today we travel exclusively by buses, a new experience for me and Jožeka, because in the past we travelled exclusively by subway in NY. It's one of the oldest and most extensive subways in the world. Its total length is 373 km, it passes through Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and you will find 468 stations. It's a nice change from the New York City subway, as it's not comfortable with a stroller - all narrow stairs up and down.
We're off to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & & Space Museum - a famous military, naval and, to a lesser extent, space museum that is one of the best and largest in its category in the world. The exhibits are breathtaking - you'll even find the Enterprise here. Under the open sky awaits a legend of world transport aviation - the supersonic Concorde aircraft in British Airways colours. After these planes went out of service, many of them flew their last legs to various museums around the world. A G-BOAD registration machine docked at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. There is also a part of the interior accessible, which unfortunately we can't get to because they are sold out for interesting times. The Growler submarine is the only one of its kind with guided missiles that is open to the public in the US. You can see almost the entire machine from the crew rooms to the control center to the popular torpedo chamber. On August 2, 2022, they celebrated 40 years since the museum opened.
Another move to a new prospect we haven't been to in the past, called The Edge. There is a glass floor here, which we (especially me, I guess) are attracted to. It opened in March 2020 and is located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. I highly recommend a visit, it's a really great experience.
We'll contribute in the morning. We didn't set the alarm. After a slightly chaotic morning, our goal today is clear - to visit One World Observatory - 102 floors in 47 seconds.
One World Trade Center, formerly known as Freedom Tower, is a skyscraper built near the site of the original World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We take the subway because it's the fastest way. This time we take all the kids with us and they manage the elevator up without any problems. The view of NY is breathtaking as always, no matter what vantage point you go to. They also have a commentary section, so after it's over I quiz the kids on what they remembered or understood correctly and what they take away about NYC. Josie is asleep as always. Probably no one would believe me, but 90% of the time in situations like this when we travel, he just sleeps in the carrier.
The boys are still going to visit the WTC memorial, including the underground,
Here's a bit of text from Joshka. The 9/11 memorial is one of the things one should not miss when visiting NY. The upper, open-air section, with the waterfalls where the original twin towers stood, is already impressive. The names of all the victims are listed around the edges.
The site is really "powerful" and very impressive. In the underground museum, the feelings are heightened. You can go through the events of that tragic day almost minute by minute. There are many exhibits from the original twin towers, firefighters' equipment, personal belongings of the victims ...
Sophie, Joseph and I want to go shopping for some school clothes. Unfortunately, our favorite mall is closed until spring 2023, so we end up at the Gap, where they have nice discounts and school gear is acquired. We arrive back at the hotel after 9pm and our feet are really hurting.
Last holiday morning, last packing of suitcases. We're rearranging suitcases to pack everything the kids are taking with them. Like the bow and arrows one little girl needed from the Disney store because the boys' one at home no longer survived her passion for shooting. This time we're bringing a purple one (better). The boys are figuring out new shoes so they don't get wrinkled, and I'm figuring out if I have enough food left for Joseph on the way back. We hide the suitcases in the hotel and go shopping with the kids. We have to be back by 3:00 and go to the airport. In the car we talk about our top 5 from the vacation, with the kids clearly winning Universal Studios Hollywood followed closely by Disneyland and The One Observatory in New York City, and me and Josh again choosing the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe, and the parks - Josh the Sequoia and me Yosemite.
