My families Great American Adventure

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

25 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Then she's just gonna love this thread!

She wouldn’t care about you clowns. It’s my daughter she doesn’t want to know. 

[Not from Texas 21]

On 7/4/2020 at 2:32 PM, Wulaw Horn said:

So,

went to Walmart that we are boondocking in your get some beers in PA and they don’t sell beer in the grocery store here. In Indiana they don’t sell it at the gas station. Weirdos. 
So, went to the beer barn across the street and literally every single person in there bought an “adult slushie”. Feel like I wasted 4.49 but when in Rome...  

Just found this thread and spent an hour catching up.  This made me chuckle, as I Live in PA and you hit it perfectly.  I think I am one of the few that go to the beer distributor and do not get an "adult slushie".  Every time the cashier asks me you want a slushie with that beer order.  And when I decline they look at me weird.  I have been told the margarita slushies at 12% alcohol are the only ones to get.  Perhaps I will try one tonight for you, adventurer Wulaw!  Keep up the good work.

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

4 hours ago, Not from Texas said:

Just found this thread and spent an hour catching up.  This made me chuckle, as I Live in PA and you hit it perfectly.  I think I am one of the few that go to the beer distributor and do not get an "adult slushie".  Every time the cashier asks me you want a slushie with that beer order.  And when I decline they look at me weird.  I have been told the margarita slushies at 12% alcohol are the only ones to get.  Perhaps I will try one tonight for you, adventurer Wulaw!  Keep up the good work.

They also said- do you want a bag of chips? Me- no. Them- it’s free. Me- ok then, sure. 
don’t know if that’s an every day thing or just bc it was the 4th. 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

So, yesterday the family and I went on a 7 mile canoe trip down the Delaware river from PA into New Jersey. I swam 6.5 of the 7 mikes- was in the water for 2.5 or 3 hours. 
My question:

Am I more likely to immediately die of cancer or more likely to gain super powers from being in probably polluted and messed up waters for that long?  If super powers what are they most likely to be?  

[Grade of D as in David 13255]

36 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

So, yesterday the family and I went on a 7 mile canoe trip down the Delaware river from PA into New Jersey. I swam 6.5 of the 7 mikes- was in the water for 2.5 or 3 hours. 
My question:

Am I more likely to immediately die of cancer or more likely to gain super powers from being in probably polluted and messed up waters for that long?  If super powers what are they most likely to be?  

Did y'all harvest any fresh local Delaware runoff crabs?

 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

15 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

Did y'all harvest any fresh local Delaware runoff crabs?

 

 

No. Damn I love that show. 

[Incredulity 11863]

2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

So, yesterday the family and I went on a 7 mile canoe trip down the Delaware river from PA into New Jersey. I swam 6.5 of the 7 mikes- was in the water for 2.5 or 3 hours. 
My question:

Am I more likely to immediately die of cancer or more likely to gain super powers from being in probably polluted and messed up waters for that long?  If super powers what are they most likely to be?  

[RPM 26585]

[CycleTex87 3010]

This thread has gone in an interesting direction lately with the boogie tent And surrounding drama, and Wulaw swimming through Love Canal.  

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

PA means coal mining country. Went on a mine tour with the kids. Got to explain how coal powered this country, made it run, helped make us an economic power, and is a nasty, dirty and disgusting job that hopefully gets phased out as we become a more fully evolved species.
They learned what- “canary in the coal mine” means, and then we listened to Big John, Coal Miners daughter, and I owe my soul to the company store. And they saw the paystub from the poor son of a bitch miner that earned $45.00 shoveling 60 tons of coal in a week only to have the company deduct $44.87 and pay him a whopping 13 cents in wages.
They got to take turns reading that plaque to the 5 year old.
The tour guide was a rea life miner- super nice guy and actually pretty excited about being a coal miner. He seemed to think that things haven’t been all that bad in the coal mines “since they unionized back in the early 20th century. Said most of the company store bullshit went away then and also that management started caring whether or not they were killing a bunch of miners.
Thought that was a more generous assessment of management than I’d have, and much mor generous than I’d have expected.
This was his side hustle.
 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

Where the miners spent most of their days. That looks like it’s down the shaft but it’s actually the camera pointed up. Weird optical illusion. I think the only place I’d be less interested in working is the high steel, making a sky scraper on the beams. Just a tough way to make a living.
This particular mine only killed 100 people (on the job not counting shit like black lung of course) over the course of 110 years maybe? Way less than I’d have expected.
Boy these guys have it rough. You see something like that and think “but for the grace of god go I” and I’m just happy I was born in the anywhere and anywhen that I was.
Not to turn this political (and I swear I won’t), but one of the things I wanted my kids to learn on this trip is how good they have it in this time and place, and how fortunate they should feel. Along with a reverence and awe for what the people that came before us did in building this country, and an appreciation for how amazing, vast and beautiful much of this country is, and some of the ugliness that preceded us, along with the fact that things in America are getting much better from the past, but aren’t perfect yet, and it’s our job to clean up (physically, emotionally and spiritually) our little piece of the world as much as we can.
I hope they see all that.
To that end we’ve explored some beautiful places (Arkansas was gorgeous, Shenandoah River valley was amazing, and Poconos are pretty cool) while also seeing history stuff that placed the struggles of the settlers in context, some of the horrors committed against the Indians, the Underground Railroad and museum dedicated to runaway slaves and putting slavery in context, and the brutality of a place like working in the coal mines.
I hope some of this is taking and they retain some of it. Not exactly details but the big picture stuff I talked about wanting to show them.
 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[mdmost 43869]

Does the wife get the private tour of a shaft later?

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

2 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Does the wife get the private tour of a shaft later?

She doesn’t need a private tour of a shaft, she’s got her own to explore at her leisure. She might need me to mine in there with a couple implements though. 
Her sister is the one in the family that enjoys touring other shafts. 

[Hank_Hill 19873]

5 year olds mask is really gettin the job done there

[Brew 3049]

The youngest is dripping with enthusiasm in that picture. Made me laugh. 

[77horn 216]

Since you are touring coal country, maybe you can take a trip to Centralia.
Or maybe not..

Spoiler

Quote

In May 1962, the city council proposed cleaning up the local landfill in time for Centralia’s Memorial Day festivities. “This might seem like irrelevant, small-town history except for one thing,” wrote David Dekok in Fire Underground, his history of the fire: “Centralia Council’s method for cleaning up a dump was to set it on fire.” Though competing theories exist about how the fire was sparked, it’s thought that the Centralia dump fire sparked a much larger mine fire beneath the town.

Soon, a fire was raging in a coal seam beneath Centralia.

...Congress decided to buy out its residents, paying them to move. Then, in 1992, Pennsylvania moved to kick the holdouts out for good. All of Centralia’s buildings were condemned; its ZIP code was eliminated. Seven residents remained via court order; they are forbidden from passing down their property or selling it.

Today, Centralia still burns as one of 38 known active mining fires in the Pennsylvania.According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, the fire could burn for another century if left uncontrolled.

 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

41 minutes ago, Brew said:

The youngest is dripping with enthusiasm in that picture. Made me laugh. 

Read my post up thread about our waterfall  hike where she tried to get the 9 year old to deep breathe, saw her not so it and her response to said 9 year old. She’s mean as hell, has the most amazing faces to convey how much of an idiot she thinks you are, and also the coolest little kid I’ve ever met. Unless you asked her. She’d tell you she is a cat. For 2 years now I’ve never seen her break character. She’s absolutely a cat. She will have entire conversations with people by meowing, hissing or purring. It’s pretty funny. 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

Another waterfall hike- the little two and the dog swimming in the pool at the bottom. It was pretty cool.
 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

Better view of the waterfall and a little of my fat ass. Just a regular run of the mill fat person and not a giant land manatee of a fat person. Better view of the waterfall. My youngest looking happy. She looks pretty good for 3 miles into a hike at barely 5 with a couple thousand feet of elevation change, right? She’s a tough little shit.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[Grade of D as in David 13255]

1 hour ago, Hank_Hill said:

5 year olds mask is really gettin the job done there

Yeah she's gonna catch the black lung.

[EE2B 1569]

On the masks, Old Navy sells child size masks that are multiple layers. We bought those for our kids and some cord locks from amazon that will make them fit snugly to their faces. The cord locks fit so tightly on the straps that you can wash them and don’t have to worry about the cord locks coming off.

Pro (just the) tip:
Thread a string through the hole in the cord lock, tie it around the strap and pull everything back through. You have to keep the string/knot small, but it will fit. I pulled a small section of butcher twine out of a length and used it.

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

She has a child size mask. It resides in my wife’s purse. Which is usually handy but I’d assumed it was in the truck and that’s not where it was. Which meant we got there, 75 minutes away? With no masks and had to make do with what they sold. 

[Sam Lin 3595]

3 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

And they saw the paystub from the poor son of a bitch miner that earned $45.00 shoveling 60 tons of coal in a week only to have the company deduct $44.87 and pay him a whopping 13 cents in wages.

So, like today except now the govt is the one that deducts the $44.87

[Incredulity 11863]

15 minutes ago, Sam Lin said:

So, like today except now the govt is the one that deducts the $44.87

Stop being a racist/CRLeftist

[Fuck Tim Beck 3892]

16 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

 

For a second I thought I was in the "Pics of South Austin's mom thread". 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

Hudson River valley New York. Weed Orchard and winery. Their hard cider is terrible. Wife says their wine is bad too. I don’t drink wine so I don’t know. It’s very pretty. It’s the scene of a real housewives of New York episode I’ve just now been told by the wife.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

If it’s Saturday that can only mean one thing... drinking beers in a Walmart parking lot to finish off the night, waiting for Sunday to check into our campsite. Hudson River valley New York. 65 minute drive from NYC. Gonna see the Statue of Liberty and twin tower memorial this week with the kids.
 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[Reynolds Woodcock 5065]

Thought of this thread as soon as I saw this

Rookie RV Drivers Jam America’s Roads

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

3 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Thought of this thread as soon as I saw this

Rookie RV Drivers Jam America’s Roads

No doubt. I had a commercial drivers license and used to drive a school bus so I’m not a great danger getting behind the wheel of an rv, but when I found out a 16 year old with a normal drivers license could drive an RV it blew my mind. Seems like a bad idea. 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

In case you are wondering, you haven’t really lived until you’ve drank, smoked, pissed and fucked all in a Walmart parking lot sitting outside an rv with the canopy out and the slides open. 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

My wife just claimed- after walking the dog after rocking the truck in the parking lot, that she got a wolf whistle from a trucker. So they took not of the truck banging and swaying. 
I can’t believe I’ve turned into such a degenerate. I just hope I’m not arrested for public fucking somewhere on this journey. 

[CycleTex87 3010]

Gold

[Incredulity 11863]

16 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

My wife just claimed- after walking the dog after rocking the truck in the parking lot, that she got a wolf whistle from a trucker. So they took not of the truck banging and swaying. 
I can’t believe I’ve turned into such a degenerate. I just hope I’m not arrested for public fucking somewhere on this journey. 

If you end up with a 4th from all this Walmart parking lot action it would be very appropriate to name it Wulaw Walton Marty Horn or some derivation thereof.

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

14 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

If you end up with a 4th from all this Walmart parking lot action it would be very appropriate to name it Wulaw Walton Marty Horn or some derivation thereof.

I’m neutered and turning 42 tomorrow (wife’s already 42) so we damn sure better not end up with a 4th. 

[AgentZero 19]

18 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

My wife just claimed- after walking the dog after rocking the truck in the parking lot, that she got a wolf whistle from a trucker. So they took not of the truck banging and swaying. 
I can’t believe I’ve turned into such a degenerate. I just hope I’m not arrested for public fucking somewhere on this journey. 

 

really enjoy this thread, thanks so much.  i'm jealous.

but i just had an idea as to how you can offset the expenses incurred while purchasing walmart wolf shirts.

 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

1 minute ago, AgentZero said:

 

really enjoy this thread, thanks so much.  i'm jealous.

but i just had an idea as to how you can offset the expenses incurred while purchasing walmart wolf shirts.

 

Indeed. I can’t find a Walmart wolf shirt. I am on the lookout for one, however. 

[gmr548 16681]

Just caught up on this thread from the start. This is America simultaneously at its best and worst. Certainly an interesting diversion from most of what's out there these days. I admire your willingness to make it happen.

On 6/17/2020 at 7:42 PM, orangecat92 said:

Wow.  Am so impressed at your thought process. From an educator point of view, I cannot thank you enough for exposing the kids to all of America this way.   Your idea of having the kids write a journal is the bomb!  There is a website-can't think of it now-that will "publish" kids books.  They provide the special high-quality paper, etc.  Makes a cool gift for grandparents, etc. 

When you get serious about having the kids work on academics,  I suggest the following:

1.  IXL.com. for math.  IXL is an incredible website that has different levels of math, from PK all of the way to high school.  I used it to tutor 5th graders who had failed the 4th grade STAAR a couple of years ago. 

2. Lexia.com is also wonderful for language arts.  Lexia is designed for kids who have dyslexia, but at the charter school I taught in Dallas, we put all of our kids on lexia and it was outstanding.  I always challenged my 4th graders to complete the 5th grade level of Lexia, reason being that was less kids I would have to be concerned about passing the writing STAAR test.  

One hour a day of IXL and one hour a day of Lexia and you may wonder what the kids have been doing in school.   

 

 

One thing I'd add here is Duolingo for foreign languages. It's a free app, and it's sort of game-ified in a way your kids might like. Can compete against friends, earn points to customize your little character, etc. They're not going to end up fluent or anything but 15 minutes a day, especially at their age, can help establish a useful base.

[Buzzrock 15119]

Just caught up. How many weeks on the road now?

My buddy who has the RV I use all the time says he’s going to sell it. It’s a seller’s market and we most likely won’t have football this fall. I need to take it on one more trip before he does.

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

1 minute ago, Buzzrock said:

Just caught up. How many weeks on the road now?

My buddy who has the RV I use all the time says he’s going to sell it. It’s a seller’s market and we most likely won’t have football this fall. I need to take it on one more trip before he does.

This will be my 5th week on the road. Going pretty well I think, but definitely not the easiest thing in the world to do with 3 kids and a puppy. 
Yeah, it’s a ridiculously tight sellers market right now. 
What kind of rig does your buddy have and where are you taking it?  

[horn4life 3834]

I am just surprised you haven't gone into Walmart and gotten your self a plastic step stool from Walmart yet?  This model is rated for folks that might have even had a few biscuits that morning with a 300 lb rating. step stool

Might as well either buy a black rope or tie down, or permanently secure the stairs with a long bolt a couple of washers and a lock nut.  Just to class up the rig! Or is the orange tie down, so you feel like you blend in better with the folks on the edges of the Walmart parking lot?

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

1 minute ago, horn4life said:

I am just surprised you haven't gone into Walmart and gotten your self a plastic step stool from Walmart yet?  This model is rated for folks that might have even had a few biscuits that morning with a 300 lb rating. step stool

Might as well either buy a black rope or tie down, or permanently secure the stairs with a long bolt a couple of washers and a lock nut.  Just to class up the rig! Or is the orange tie down, so you feel like you blend in better with the folks on the edges of the Walmart parking lot?

That sounds like a good idea, but I think it might be easier for the little ones to use the stairs. They flop out and hang and are fine for 6 days if the week. The only time we strap them up is on travel day when we hit the road. 
wife has a step for that when we are boondocked at the Walmart with the stairs strapped up. I’m y’all enough and agile enough to get in without it. She needs it. I lift the little two up myself to get them in and out and the 9 year old climbs like a spider monkey. 

[Buzzrock 15119]

This will be my 5th week on the road. Going pretty well I think, but definitely not the easiest thing in the world to do with 3 kids and a puppy. 
Yeah, it’s a ridiculously tight sellers market right now. 
What kind of rig does your buddy have and where are you taking it?  

34’ 2017 Georgetown Class A with an outdoor kitchen.

No idea. Wife wants to go the beach but the beach seems like a shit show right now so I’m thinking maybe up in the Blue Ridge Mountains somewhere that it will be cooler. We’ve got five weeks or so before school starts.

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

21 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

 

34’ 2017 Georgetown Class A with an outdoor kitchen.

No idea. Wife wants to go the beach but the beach seems like a shit show right now so I’m thinking maybe up in the Blue Ridge Mountains somewhere that it will be cooler. We’ve got five weeks or so before school starts.

 

That’s basically exactly what I have. Blue ridge mountains sounds fun. 

[Chewbacca 7828]

34’ 2017 Georgetown Class A with an outdoor kitchen.

No idea. Wife wants to go the beach but the beach seems like a shit show right now so I’m thinking maybe up in the Blue Ridge Mountains somewhere that it will be cooler. We’ve got five weeks or so before school starts.

Tell Ed to watch your house and do it. Amuse us.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22259]

Did the RV get carjacked?

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

3 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Did the RV get carjacked?

Nope. Just boring here Im NY. Worked all day all three days and kids have been schooling. We are going to do a driving tour of NYC on Friday. Not much to report. 
other than I’ve lost 15 pounds, we are spending too much money, and I turned 42 Monday without any presents or celebration or even sex. Weird birthday. Such is life On the road I think. 

[utee94 16076]

So are y'all actually following a home-schooling protocol for the kids this fall since you won't be present (online)?  Or will you find places for them to do online school in their home district, since it looks like that's what Texas is doing?

I'm curious, because if Texas remains online, I'm going to have to consider other options for my daughter.  Online school was a disaster for her last spring and it's something we won't be participating in this fall.  Neither my wife nor I can home-school due to our work schedules, so I'm considering either figuring out a way to hire a private teacher, or just sitting her out for a year and taking a gap year.

[BottleRocket 659]

Happy Birthday Wulaw.  The whole year will be one long present.  The kids are present.  The wife is present.  The dog is present.  You are all present in that little space.  Livin' the life.  I think what you are doing is awesome.  

 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

So are y'all actually following a home-schooling protocol for the kids this fall since you won't be present (online)?  Or will you find places for them to do online school in their home district, since it looks like that's what Texas is doing?

I'm curious, because if Texas remains online, I'm going to have to consider other options for my daughter.  Online school was a disaster for her last spring and it's something we won't be participating in this fall.  Neither my wife nor I can home-school due to our work schedules, so I'm considering either figuring out a way to hire a private teacher, or just sitting her out for a year and taking a gap year.

We are completely home schooling. We have an online curriculum we use as a jumping off point for what to study, plus we are doing flash cards for math and supplementing our own enrichment for social studies and writing about what happened along the way. Except the kindergartner, we are just going to teach her how to read and count to 100 and wrote her alphabet and all that happy horseshit. 

[Wulaw Horn 19565]

58 minutes ago, BottleRocket said:

Happy Birthday Wulaw.  The whole year will be one long present.  The kids are present.  The wife is present.  The dog is present.  You are all present in that little space.  Livin' the life.  I think what you are doing is awesome.  

 

Thanks man. Lots of cool stuff has happened. It’s also sometimes a beat down. Like today trying to work while my wife does laundry at the laundry mat and I have to keep an eye on the three primary school terrorists. 
I was on an important call today with a new agent and my 5 year old comes busting in screaming and crying at the top of her lungs telling me she has to take a nap bc she’s been awful to her mommy. Stuff like that isn’t fun, or me half ass keeping an eye on them while I try to work, but overall it’s been worth it so far.