The Long, Looong Trip

I have to start by saying that this trip was actually much better than anticipated, all in all. Ty and I spent more time talking and hanging out than we had in a long time. The kids did really well and usually could be soothed with the promise of a hotel pool when they started to get restless...so no matter what time of night we pulled in, we went swimming, and then, by some miracle, they all fell asleep quickly in the very crowded hotel room. We had fun just being together!


We made a few stops on our way out of the west. Mainly to see and "help" grandmas...which we all loved! Coleson really, really, loved chasing and "holding" kitties.

Colorado was the only state I did not have my camera out for...which is really too bad because we were stuck in Vail Pass for about 2 hours (this ended up being an 11 hour day instead of 8). Luckily Vail is about as pretty as a Mountain city can get...still not quite worth 2 hours of construction though. On our way out of Colorado I snapped the two above...we were lost for a few miles getting out of Denver area...ended up seeing Air Force Academy though!

Kansas was about as flat as land can get...and there weren't a lot of pit stops. We were going to stop for gas, but the stop ended up "under construction," not that any earlier signs told us that...so we had to wait another 25 miles until we could stop again. The light went on in our van about 5 miles from the stop, we got off, drove up to the stop, and grass was growing out of the 1950's pump?!? Luckily, a heaven sent Idaho license plate came off of the dirt road next to the "gas station" and told us we just had to drive a little ways into the dirt road city to find the gas station...which was great news considering we didn't think our van could pull the trailer another 25 miles on empty.

Well, the gas station was full of "folks" talking with their glass soda bottles, which had come out of the metal ice box next to the service counter. (Not kidding! We went back at least 50 years into the past, if not more.) The "gentleman's" restroom was located inside the little gas station/fix-it shop and the "women's" needed a key and was located around the back!

We figured since we had already stopped we would sit out on the corner and eat our lunch next to what appeared to be an old run down shed ( you can see the back of the "gas station" behind the shed, with the old tractor tires laying out)...but apparently the shed belonged to an old man that came out to see who we were...yikes! His wife came out later and was very kind, even offered for us to eat at their old beaten down picnic table, but we were already loading up...maybe next time! (I hope not...but I would like everyone else to stop by and see this place, just to know I wasn't crazy)

The craziest part about Kansas was that there were a lot of gorgeous churches that seemed to sprout up out of the grass in the most random places...There were also a lot of oil rigs dotting the fields.

A bunch of these "layered hills" lined the sides of the road.

Eventually Kansas started becoming more and more "bumpy" and a few trees sprung up here or there until trees covered hills and water appeared...along with some GREAT humidity.

After two days of LOOONG rides...We made sure the drive to St. Louis was short so that we had some extra time for the kids to let out all of their built up energy at the Children's Museum. It was great!

We crossed a few rivers and saw many farms and barns...and lots of green.

For Father's Day we went on a little walk by our hotel, even saw a deer next to the Bob Evan's by our hotel.

Awesome: West Virginia's State Capitol Building. And many more beautiful, tree covered, rolling hills.

The last day we had to buy chocolate chip cookies to try and make some of the whining/loud screaming stop...They were all shocked to hear that we had crossed the border into NC. Finally!
Unfortunately, about 2o miles past the border, driving in the slow lane, sandwiched between two cars, with Addellyn screaming that she was going to pee her pants if we didn't stop NOW, sirens were heard and Ty had to pull over...we were going too fAsT?!? And the 10 cars around us apparently weren't. Addellyn began to cry because she couldn't hold it any longer, and Officer Danbury took his sweet time because said he was very confused by our Idaho liscence plate and the UHaul trailer's Cali plates...Even though we told him we only had about 40 miles left of our cross country move! Luckily, Ty went to Danbury a few weeks later and the judge agreed we shouldn't have been ticketed for speeding...but maybe for improper trailer use? maybe? And we still had to pay Danbury's $150 "court fee" since we needed a judge to tell us the officer may have made a mistake...soooo...Welcome to the great NC!