Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

We put in a long day of driving on Friday and made it home in time to sleep in our own beds. 

Penny was very glad to have Chris back in his favorite chair.

Total miles put on the van  = 4,236

Order of states driven through in 13 days = MI, IN, IL, MO, TN, AK, OK, TX, NM, AZ, (4 corners UT, CO, AZ, NM), CO, NE, IA, IL, IN and MI.

This road trip far exceeded everyone's expectations (especially our 15 year old).

Exactly 30 years ago, my parents had done a similar trip when I was Emma's age.  However, in 1983 smart phones didn't exist. Neither did portable dvd players, Or, instagrams.  Or texting. Or facetime.  Or vines for sharing videos. I was completely cut off from 15 year old friends.  My sister and I drove each other crazy in the  backseat of my parent's Buick sedan.  

In 1983, I made a scrapbook of our family's road trip vacation and have held onto it all these years.

Although we used quite a bit of technology to record our trip, I also brought along a 3 ring binder with plastic sleeves.  In the binder were our daily driving routes (which included how many hours we would be in the van each day), along with our motel reservations/addresses, and some suggested sights to see along the way.   The notebook was used to keep us organized, and it also helped the girls see visually how far we were traveling each day. 

 As we picked up postcards and paper souvenirs along the way, I slid them into the plastic sleeve for that day of traveling.

As you probably guessed,  I'm planning on helping the girls put together their own scrapbooks later this summer of our trip.

In our addition to our reference book,  EZ66 Guide for Travelers, we also used the Roadside American App on Chris's cell phone to find additional roadside attractions.  

My goal was to find at least one kitschy photo-worthy stop in each state. 

Despite the 107 heat, some of my favorite memories were around the Holbrook AZ area.  

 


If I would have had more time off from work, Chris and I would have liked to complete the entire Route 66 journey all the way to CA.

I can't say enough about the Junior Park Ranger program.  

Josie loved earning badges and learning more about our national parks.

Emma did a fabulous job driving...especially in Oklahoma city under rush hour traffic and construction zones.

The United States is such a beautiful country. 

I am happy to report that we were with each other 24 hours a day for 13 days and survived.  

The girls were troopers with time zone changes and hundreds of miles logged every day in the car.

It was definitely a family trip of a lifetime. 

Visiting Frank and Mike in Iowa

Passing through LeClaire Iowa, we stopped off at Antique Archaeology in the hopes of seeing one of our favorite "pickers".    

No such luck.

However, the store was open and we were able to explore (along with the rest of the tourists) their two room building.

It was fun to spot many of the antiques that we've watched Frank and Mike "pick".

Surprisingly, the store is very small and close to downtown.

On tv, it appears to be much larger and in the middle of nowhere.

Most of the antiques that are available to purchase are extremely pricey.

 As  you can imagine, the store primarily caters their television merchandise.

We were happy that this stop was on our way home.  

Sorry we missed you Frank and Mike.  Maybe next time!

A blur...

We're two states away from home.

 The last 24 hours have been a blur of Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa. 

These are a few favorite pictures from Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs taken Wednesday morning.

Another beautiful day.

Another amazing national landmark.

God bless this great country!

Horsing around in Colorado...

While in Durango CO, we took the girls horseback riding.  

Riding a horse in the Colorado mountains versus the flat lands of Michigan is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Our ride ended up being nearly 2.5 hours long.

 Our guide was fabulous.  

He has a little girl who is 6 and he really fussed over Josie. 

My horse was very naughty.  His name was Elvis and he was very slow and kept wanting to do his own thing. When he positioned us for that picture in the mountains with the lake behind us, Elvis starting backing down the hill.  It might not look like I'm terrified in this picture, but I was very ready to get back on the trail away from the hill.

Horseback riding was an amazing experience.

This probably goes down as one of our absolute favorite activities on this whole trip.

Colorado is a beautiful state. 

We're making our way back home.

It's been a fabulous trip.

XOXO
 

Respecting the heat...

God bless the firefighters who lost their lives trying to contain the Arizona wildfire. I have a whole new respect for heat and fire after being in AZ the last several days.

After touring the Painted dessert and then the Grand Canyon, I can officially say I'm not a heat person.

Although it wasn't the hottest part of the South West, 107 degrees is plenty hot.

Both girls were troopers and LOVED the scenery. 

The photo opportunities were abundant.

We took the train from Williams AZ to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. 

Our train ride even came with a special cowboy that taught Josie how to play the fiddle. 

Josie also participated in the Junior Park Ranger program at both parks.  

She has been happily sporting her ranger's badge and patches.

She took her job as a junior ranger and her park workbooks very seriously.

Sunday, we left AZ and made our way to CO.

 The roadside jewelry stands and kitschy stops were plentiful.

I can't imagine doing this trip without technology to keep the peace in our car.  On most days, we've been on the road 6+ hours.  Dual dvd players have been a life safer.  

We certainly are enjoying all the beautiful surroundings found around the South West. 

We have some very special outings planned in CO.