The final day of our trip was pretty uneventful, except that Christian was throwing up. After giving him apple juice and catching it all back up in a cup, we decided he couldn't have anything to eat or drink until we stopped to get some Sprite and Gatorade. The Gatorade came back up as well, so Christian spent the day drinking Sprite. The up side of the whole situation is that because he wasn't feeling well, he slept almost the whole drive, or just rested and looked out the window. We only stopped to get Sprite and then again to eat lunch at Subway in Price. Ethan was also exhausted, and slept a good part of the way as well. It was a quick trip home!
Here is our champion driver. Jake drove for all but two hours of the trip. I like driving and Jake doesn't mind me doing it, but for long trips, Jake make's a good driver and I make a good entertainer and feeder of the boys (including Jake). Together, Jake and I make a great team. What a trip it was! We really enjoyed the whole thing (minus Gallup) and look forward to many road trips to come!
Friday was a day to remember (or not to, for part of it). We woke up in Shamrock, Texas, ate our continental breakfast, and got on our way. We drove across the whole "tip" of Texas, stopped in Amarillo for lunch, saw the largest cross in the western hemisphere, stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico for some quick sight-seeing, ate dinner in Gallup, New Mexico (the armpit of our trip...), and finished our night by driving through the Navajo reservation to reach our Best Western in Cortez, Colorado.
Having some fun in the mirror before heading out Friday morning. Amarillo was pretty barren, but we drove along the Historic Route 66 and thought of Lightning McQueen. We ate our lunch at a breezy park along Route 66 and, despite the look on Jake's face, we were all thrilled to be out of the car. The billboard read, "Largest cross in the Western Hemisphere! A spiritual experience you will never forget." Most certainly it was large. And it was in the middle of nowhere: Groom, Texas. It seemed a little strange. I just googled it though and it looks like there was actually much more there to see. http://www.crossministries.net/ Maybe we should have stopped. Another unique sight I saw in Texas. I've never seen a night speed limit sign before. The boys were such troopers and great travelers! And thankfully they took some great naps in the car! We stopped in Albuquerque in hopes of seeing the Petroglyph National Monument, but only made it to the visitors center. The hike was two miles round trip to see the petroglyphs, and we didn't think we had time for that. But we still enjoyed stretching our legs and throwing rocks! I think Christian could have stayed there for hours throwing rocks into the sagebrush! Albuquerque was pretty, and reminded us a lot of Salt Lake. See the mountains? It was fun to finally see some beautiful mountains again, after crossing through a very flat and very barren Texas! (No hard feelings, Joe, Sally, Peter and Lindsay.) :)This is my favorite picture of the trip. Our cute boys in front of the mud ovens used by the Native Americans.Fortunately, I have no pictures of Gallup, New Mexico. I want to forget it. That was definitely the worst part of our trip. It was the point where I almost lost it. After traveling all day, we had decided on going to a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner in Gallup. Ha. They have no such thing. First of all, we were quite the minority there. Gallup is right outside the reservation, so as you can imagine, we didn't quite fit in. Second, I think they have different health codes there than we are used to. We drove around for awhile looking for a place and checked out one, but it was so dirty! The only sit down place we could find was Sizzler, and after running in to use their restroom, Jake refused to go back in because it was filthy! So we settled on Arby's, another very filthy place!! I couldn't ever bear to watch my children eat in such a gross place. And then Christian, who is of course restless, starts crawling under the table to get a straw he dropped and ketchup packets he threw. Oh boy, I was going to lose it. I just had to close my eyes and let them eat. By the time we left I felt so gross, all I wanted was to take a shower. We put the boys in their jammies, and then stopped at Sonic to get a refreshing shake to wash down all the dirt. And wouldn't you know, the shake was gross! It was topped with TONS of coolwhip. Normally I love Cool Whip, but not this night. What a disappointing dinner. As the boys fell asleep and we made our way across the reservation toward our hotel in Cortez, Colorado, we started to laugh about the whole situation. But I only felt better once we got to the hotel and I took a shower. :)
To add to the story, this was the night that Christian started throwing up in the night. Perhaps it had something to do with that dirty place we ate in....
Thursday morning we got up when the boys woke up, got dressed, ate the continental breakfast, and then got back in the car to continue our journey. We were usually on the road by 8:00 or 8:30 every day. On Thursday we drove from Memphis, Tennessee through the entire state of Oklahoma, and stayed the night in Shamrock, Texas, covering 651 miles that day. We stopped in Little Rock for our lunch break and ate a delicious pork BBQ sandwich from the market on the Arkansas river. We got out to stretch our legs for a bit and walked along the market and the river, even though it was very chilly! We also drove through Checotah, Oklahoma, and played Carrie Underwood's "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore" as we passed. :) This night we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in Shamrock, Texas.
We stopped at Graceland to take a picture. This is pretty much all we saw, and Elvis' private airplane. When Christian saw his plane he said, "That's a faster way to get to Utah." He's not dumb. :) We drove by this cool pyramid...I can't remember what it's called or even what city it was in. :) Our lunch break in Little Rock, Arkansas.
As I said, we left Atlanta on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., much later than anticipated. No pictures were taken this day, but the first leg of our trip went well. Despite our late start, we still made it all the way to Memphis, and stayed in a city just outside of it, called Olive Branch. We drove 379 miles this day. Each night after dinner, we put the boys in their jammies, and then drove straight on once they fell asleep. We usually got to our hotel about 9:30 or 10:00 each night. We used priceline.com to book our hotels each night all the way across the country (thank you Rob!) and it worked out really well. We got some great deals. This first night we stayed in a new Fairfield Inn for only $50. Awesome.
Mother Nature is playing an April Fools joke on us. You thought it was spring? Ha! This guy showed up today to tell us otherwise. But we aren't complaining. Actually, it was the perfect chance for Christian to try out his new snow gear for the first time. I think he looks absolutely smashing. Especially since I found this snow suit for 90% off! And I bought two others as well, at the same deal. (I know, I only have two boys, but they are different sizes and will all be worn eventually, I assure you. I was planning ahead, especially since they only cost $7 for the snow pants AND coat set! Regularly $80. A steal. Yes, I am certainly a bargain shopper.) So this morning Christian and I were not deterred by the spring snow storm, but rather excited to head outside for Christian's first-ever experience of REAL playing in the snow, since he was actually outfitted for the occasion. (Except the boots--his are rain boots, rather than snow boots, but they still kept his feet warm and dry!) I hoped he wouldn't be afraid to actually PLAY in the snow, since was nice and bundled up. I had to show him what playing in the snow actually looked like, but he caught on pretty quick. This is his first-ever snow angel. Not too bad for a rookie! :) We finally managed to get this snowman built, after multiple attacks from Christian. If we'd used all the balls of snow I'd made for him, he would have been ten feet tall! Christian insisted on raisins for the eyes and mouth and a carrot for the nose. And buttons, of course. Finally, I think he was satisfied. Our last event of the morning was swinging. Christian loves to swing in this swing, even though it is more of a baby swing. We had lots of fun doing underdogs and laughing as the snow would fall on us from being knocked off the branches. Unfortunately our fun ended when I gave him one last and one too-high underdog, causing the rope of the swing to get caught on a branch, flipping Christian out of the swing on onto the ground. Fortunately, I think it scared him more than anything, and there were no major injuries, but I felt so bad! Consequently, that was the end of our fun morning in the snow. (Ethan missed out on all the fun because he was napping. Maybe when he starts walking he'll get to join in!) Happy April Fool's Day to everyone!
(We had another April Fool's joke played on us that we didn't think was too funny. We got a couple offers on our home this week and one of them we had finally come to an agreement on price and we thought we'd found our buyer! Unfortunately, we got a call this afternoon to inform us that the whole deal is off. Bummer. Back to square one.)
What a trip it was! We really enjoyed the whole thing (minus Gallup) and look forward to many road trips to come!
