Outer Banks 1999

18 August 1999 - I stayed at Grandma K's house Tuesday night. This morning she drove to the airport in Appleton. I was going to fly down to Kill Devil Hills, NC, to see my sis play in the first-ever girl world series for softball. I flew from Appleton to make my connection in Chicago. I slept most of the way to Norfolk. It was in the 70s back home, and wonderful 80s-90s in Norfolk where Mom and Dad picked me up. It took about 2 hours to drive to Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. We were staying in a Ramada right on the beach. I got settled, then Mom, Dad and I went swimming in the ocean. It was nice and cool, but not cold. I tried body boarding. Cassie's game was at 4:30, so we went over to the park. It was pretty warm by the field (in the low 100s). They played well, but they just couldn't get their bats working. Cassie went back with her host family, while we went back to the hotel. Then we went out to dinner at Kelly's. That was a pretty classy place. Dad bought Mom a cow at the gift shop. I tried a little of the seafood Mom and Dad ordered. When we got back to the hotel, I played cards with Jill J, Jessie W, Gilbie and some other young'uns. Because I got up at 4 today, I left early to go to bed. There was supposedly a big storm, but I was dead to the world.

19 Aug - I got up earlyish to try to see the dolphins swim by in the ocean. Alas, I was too late. I stood outside on the deck stairs with mom, Dad and some of the other softball parents. Dad took a swim in the ocean while Mom and I got ready to pick up Cassie. Before we went up to Currituck, we visited the Wright Bros Memorial. We looked around the museum then climbed up the hill to see the monument. There was a good view, but it was quite hazy. We drove up the coast to the Currituck lighthouse. The Wirtzs drove in almost behind us. We went to climb up the lighthouse for $5. Mary and Jessie didn't want to, and Dad wanted to go up with Jeff, so Cassie, Mom and I began the 214-step climb. I don't exactly "love" heights, or climbing stairs you can see through. Cassie and Mom stopped on the third flight, but I kept going. Slow and steady, but my heart was pounding by the time I got to the top. I forced myself to look over the edge and took a couple of pictures. Cassie and Mom finally made it up, then we turned around, went back down, and visited the gift shop. We drove back towards KDH, but we stopped in Duck so I could buy a kite.. I got a parafoil for $30. I also got a magnet with a picture of the Duck coast that just says "Duck." I just through that was the funniest name for a town. We had to get Cassie back for the game so we dropped her off, then went back for the game at 6:30. It was a hard-fought game and if it weren't for some mistakes, they would have won it. Instead, they lost 1-5 to Benton, MO. Cassie had a couple of nice catches in the outfield. Since it was a double elimination tournament, the WRYSA girls were out. They were pretty sad afterwards. Cassie wanted to go back to her host family's, because they were having a party. Mom, Dad and I went back to the hotel, watched Sunset Boulevard and made baked potatoes. I joined all the adults on the patio for a bit before I went in.

20 Aug - Again, I got up early to see the dolphis, but they never showed. Grrr! Gilbie was now with us, because she would be driving home with us. I went with Dad and Gilbie to see Cassie's host house. She was right - it was huge and really nice. We went back to get Mom. We went swimming and body boarding for a nice, long time. Then we got in the van and drove down the coast to see the Hatteras lighthouse that they had moved. We then drove back up to the Bodie Island lighthouse. Then we went to Manteo on Roanoke Island to see one of the ships that brought the first colonists to the New World. There was also a museum. We toured the ship where some men acted as settlers. Then we checked out the settlement. The best part of going there was the museum. They had a bunch of hands-on activities and dress-up clothes. Cass, Gilbie and I were settlers, native Americans, pirates and civil war soldiers. It was a lot of fun! We went back to the hotel, and Cassie, Gilbie and I headed for the ocean. For some reason, the water smelled really bad. We got out and ate the pizza Mom got for dinner. Then Cassie, Gilbie, Jessie and Beth R played cards for a little bit. Early to bed...

21 Aug - It was storming when we got up at 4. We got on the road just before 6. We drove all the way through the mountains to Indianapolis, where we stopped for the night. We pulled in at about 8. Then Mom, Cass, Gilbie and I went to the mall to go jeans shopping. We got a pair each. Picked up some food at the food court, then made our way back. On our way back on the highway, we saw a big accident. There was a car flipped on its hood. We drove the rest of the way to the hotel and ate dinner. We had another early night.

22 Aug - We wanted to be on the road around 6, so we got up, ate breakfast, then we were on our way. It was a pretty short day and we were home by 2. Then we unloaded the car and I drove Gilbie back to her home in Vesper. Short though it was and somewhat disappointing, this was one of the best family vacations we've ever taken.

{transcribed 2/6/2020}

Orlando 1999

11 February 1999 - I woke up at 4:10 to get my cab to take me to the airport in Madison. My flights were pretty good (I went from Madison to Detroit to Orlando). I met Mom and Cassie at the airport. It was in the 80s and felt great! Heck of a lot better than down in Madison. We drove from the airport to Orlando. We went to this place called WonderWorks. It had a bunch of really cool interactive things, like simulated earthquakes, hurricanes; they had bubbles and games and rock climbing and rollercoaster ride. It was cool. Then we picked up Dad at the convention center. We went to the hotel. We went out to dinner at Bennigan's and it was really quiet. We took a nice long swim in the pool (all of us!). Oh, and we ate lunch at Race Rock and I got a new key chain.

12 Feb - We went to EPCOT today. {I remember getting honked at as I rode in the backseat of the car by a semi driver that looked like Jerry Garcia...} We wandered around, and I bought some trinkets for friends. We didn't go on a lot of the rides, because we had been on them before. We headed over to the Magic Kingdom to go on Splash Mountain. but we got caught by the parade. We went on the ride, then rose the monorail back, because I had an awards ceremony to go to at the Peabody. I got to dress up and get a plaque for winning a scholarship from the GCSAA. After that, we went to another reception. Cassie and I wandered around. It was stormy in the evening, but it didn't rain.

Cara & Cass at Epcot

In "Norway" at Epcot

Mom in "Italy"

13 Feb - It was only in the 60s today. Grrr! It's supposed to be warm in Florida! We went to Animal Kingdom, and saw everything there was to see because we had never been there before. Then we went to MGM Studios and took a few rides and went to the parade. We met Dad at the hotel. We were going to go back to Magic Kingdom, but the traffic was too heavy. We ordered out for pizza and Cassie and I took a swim.

14 Feb - Mom, Dad, Cassie and I went to this outdoor mall to watch the start of the Daytona 500 at the Dan Marino Tavern. I bought a nice Fossil watch. Then they took me to the airport. I didn't want to go back. I wasn't ready! The flight back was pretty good. When I got to Detroit, I had to run to catch my flight to Madison. The UW wrestling team was on it, as well as this professor guy that Dad introduced me to at the Wis. golf course reception. He offered me a ride back to Liz so I wouldn't have to take a cab. I got back to Liz, put away my stuff, and crashed big time. It wasn't a long trip, but it sure felt good!!! I could have used a few more months of it, that's for sure!

{transcribed 2/6/2020}

1999 Rose Bowl

26 December 1998 - We left home at around 2 pm after a morning of pandemonium and running around. We drove as far as Des Moines, IA. Spent the night in a king-sized suite. Cool! It's so cold outside. I hope it's nice on New Years when we got to the Rose Bowl.

27 Dec - Got not very much sleep last night, because there were people making noise in the pool until around 11:30. I had to ask the front desk to make them leave. We got up early to be on the road. We drove through all of Nebraska, stopping at a Wendy's for dinner. We drove as far as Denver, Colorado. We got a room at a Hampton. We ate dinner at a sports bar and grill.

28 Dec - Another long day in the car. we left Denver around 8 local time. As we started driving through the Rockies, it started snowing. It got pretty bad when we were in the valley, so the going was pretty slow. I wasn't feeling all that well. We stopped once, and I felt like I was almost going to black out. That feeling went away after a while. Driving through Colorado and Utah was really pretty. We drove as far as Las Vegas. It was late and everyone was tired, so we didn't bother to go out to eat for dinner. Tomorrow we hope to do a little sight seeing around here and all that.

29 Dec - We spent half the day cruising the strip. We parked the van down by Treasure Island. We walked all the way down to New York, New York. We stopped at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace to look at the stores there. My feet were hurting by the time we got as far as NY. I really wanted to drop a quarter in a slot machine to say I gambled in Vegas, but you must be 21. Jeez. I can gamble in Wisconsin, but not in Vegas. I don't get it. We stopped for a drink at the Harley-Davidson Cafe on the way back to the car. After getting back, we drove over by the Sahara and had lunch at Holy Cow!, a little brewery/cafe place. The service was really slow. We walked over to the Sahara after lunch, because they had some kind of racing thing there. It didn't look very exciting, so we left. We drove the rest of the way to Loos Angeles. I slept. We got to our hotel, a little Holiday Inn Express, and watched a bowl game.

30 Dec - Stuck around the hotel this morning for a while. It was a beautiful morning, so while the rest of the family watched a movie, I sat out on the porch in the sun, ate my breakfast and read. We went to a nearby mall to try to get Cassie a replacement pair of contacts. After that, we took a drive to the Rose Bowl Stadium to try and get our bearings. There was a family festival going on, so we parked and walked over. We got some souvenirs. I got a t-shirt and a hat. We walked through a tent to see how the Rose Parade floats are made. Then we went back to the car and drove and drove to find the right way back from the stadium. We got back to the hotel, then went back to the mall to get dinner. We came back and watched Nebraska and Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.

31 Dec - We slept in this morning. Cassie and I tried to use the whirlpool, but it was a little too chilly. We did a few loads of laundry. Then we went over to the mall to pick up Cass's new contacts. I bought a Tom Servo gumball machine head. After that, we all drove to Long Beach. We were going to go the new aquarium, but not if it cost $15 a person. Instead, we walked along the harbor and ate lunch at Tequila Jack's. From there, we walked back to see the Badger Band have a little pep rally by the aquarium. We drove over to Universal Studios where they were having a special Wisconsin New Year's Eve bash at 6:00 pm. We wandered about, taking in all the rides and shows we could. We got especially wet on the Jurassic Park ride. We stayed there until 10 (midnight back home), then left to drive back to the hotel. We went to bed fairly early, because we have to get up at 4:15 am tomorrow morning. Ugh. Happy New Year!

Dad & Car along the Long Beach race route

Cass & Mom polkaing at the pep rally in Long Beach

Cass & Cara at Universal Studios

1 Jan 1999 - We got up at 4:15 as advertised. We drove over to the stadium and got a pretty good parking spot. It was only around 6 am, so I tried to catch a few more winks. The rest of the family had the idea of going up and watching the Rose Parade if we could. We walked up there and found a nice place to stand. Two local girls were friendly and let us occupy the space. We watched about half the parade. It was really interesting to see the floats up close up. You could really see the roses and all the other flowers and seeds they used to decorate them. After that, we went back to the van. I took another nap. After I woke up , I read and then mom and I played some sheepshead. At 1 pm, we went into the stadium. We found ourselves in the midst of many Badger fans. Awesome! The game was a real battle. Both teams played very well. It was a real you-score-one, I-score-one fight. The Badgers managed to hold off the UCLA Bruins just enough to get the upset. There were some really big plays by us and them. Ron Dayne had a career day. In the end, thousands of ecstatic Badger fans celebrated a 38-31 win. We had 5th Quarter and really had fun. My throat hurts from all the screaming I did. Wow. It was just too cool to be there and experience it all. We stuck around the stadium waiting for traffic to clear out, then drove back to the hotel. We ordered pizzas and got sundaes from the McDonald's across the street to feed hungry stomachs and soothe sore throats. Ate our dinner and watched TV before going to bed. A great way to ring in the New Year!

Rose Parade Float

Happy Badgers!

Winners!

2 Jan - We were up and on the road by 8:15 am. We took the southern route this time. We drove all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was pretty late (9:15 local) when we pulled into a Hampton Inn. Mom and Cassie went to get dinner while Dad and I watched the Orange Bowl.

3 Jan - Another long day on the road. I think everybody's getting a little sick of each other. We drove to Kansas City to overnight. On the way there, we listened to the Packers-49ers wild card playoff game on the radio. The Pack lost the game in the last 3 seconds. Argh! Hopefully, we'll miss the winter storm that went through Wisconsin and Illinois in the last few days.

4 Jan - Drove the last leg home. Since we made good time, we were able to pick Sadie up from the kennel before going home to dig out our driveway. It was a great trip. Who'd have believed that the Badgers would go to the Rose Bowl and win? It sure made my freshman year in college at UW-Madison that much more special. :)

{transcribed 2/6/2020}