You are crazy. Why would you do that? Why not just fly? You are brave.
Just a few words I heard when telling people that I am driving 24 hours to visit family in Colorado, Utah and Idaho.
Personally I was really excited. I wanted the challenge, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and I am so beyond tired of flying on planes. We have been on a plane five times this year (One way) and by the last round in Canada, I turned to Dan and told him I am done flying for a long while. A long, long while. Haha. Also, I really do have one of those personalities that can handle the silence and drives on my own. I like being alone, with the exception of Dan. I don't need to be surrounded by people all the time. I am a very loud outspoken people person, so people find it hard to believe, but I really am a very strong introvert person. So driving and just being alone, sounded actually really nice, plus I'm alone with the kids everyday, so that wasn't anything new. I knew it was something I could definitely handle!
When I first brought up driving to Dan, he hesitated at first but was all for it once he realized who he was talking to. Haha When I get an idea in my head, I feel like I'm letting myself down if I don't at least try to accomplish it. Dan knows me very well, better than I know myself most days, and I am grateful for his encouragement, support and excitement for me to do this.
I planned and planned and planned. We even bought a new car for the road trip. I mostly think we did it because my car obviously would not make it cross country, and I think secretly Dan didn't want us taking his car. He really, really takes care of his car, and road trips trash cars. So we pushed up our date to buy me a new car. I wasn't complaining any! I mean we planned to get a new one in September anyways, but this road trip made us push a little bit harder! Thanks awesome road trip!
Ok, so back to the trip.
I had the car packed to perfection. I had everything opened that I would need to hand to the kids. I had spare blankets in case they dropped theirs, I had snacks on hand and a system that let my change movies in the dvd player for Owen without having to pull over. It was safe and worked like a charm.
I had made each kid a special bag, full of fun little trinkets, like new little toys, stickers, coloring books, reading books, and so on... They would only get things though when they really got tired of being in the car. Mostly it was Owen, but it was a life savor and I will totally be doing that again! Thank you dollar store and target dollar spot!
I had books downloaded on Audible and new movies and TV shows downloaded on Ipads. We were set!
I really prepped and made this trip as smooth as possible for myself and the kids. I'll be honest, I kinda rocked it!
Thankfully my parents are half way between Texas and Idaho, plus I had a pit stop in Utah for a few days, so really the drives weren't that bad going there.
The plan was:
Texas to Kansas (6 hours)
Kansas to Colorado (6 hours)
Colorado to Utah (7.5 hours)
Utah to Idaho (4 hours)
It wasn't just about driving and getting there, I wanted to make sure that each day was fun, even when we were spending nights in hotels.
Friday, after lunch and ready for naps we took off for our six hour drive.
Thankfully Owen stuck to his schedule and fell asleep for the first 2 hours of the drive. It was mostly a quiet ride at the beginning!
I stopped half way through our drive and let the kids get out and stretch their legs, change Owen, and re-stock on snacks and drinks.
We finally pulled into Kansas about 8pm. I learned something. That it isn't worth waiting around for nap time. It's much better leaving earlier in the morning and giving yourself plenty of time at night. The drive ended up taking us 7 hours, including stops and traffic!
When we pulled up to the hotel, the kids were cranky and ready to be done. Since it was later, we didn't have time to swim, but we ordered pizza, got in the bath and splashed around in there for a while. Plus we jumped on the beds a lot!
Everyone slept ok. We were in a hotel after all so not as great as it would have been at home. Plus June had been sick all week, so she was snoring up a storm, and the stupid fire alarm kept blinking this bright green light! Also, Owen's sound machine was making our room a rainforest, but he can't sleep without it. It was a restless night for me, but the kids slept!
Waking up happy!
We played around the hotel for a bit that morning, ate breakfast and packed up for our second day on the road.
I did stop at a park for a little while and let the kids play and really burn some energy before getting on the road. It helped a ton and I encourage everyone to do this who is ever planning a long road trip!
We then were officially on our way to Colorado. This drive went a lot faster because we were so excited to get to Nana and Papa's house!
Dan tracked me the whole way. I liked knowing that he was watching us and keeping an eye on our location. I would call or text and let him know every time we stopped and every time we got back on the road. Just as a piece of mind for him and myself, knowing that someone knew our location at all times. I've watched too many lifetime movies to not have someone keep track of me. HA!
Super pumped to see this sign about 4 hours into the drive! We were so close and the drive between Kansas and Colorado is flat. Flat. FLAT!
We pulled into my parents driveway about 5pm. We gained an hour because of the time difference which was super nice! My parents were at a meeting so we just let ourselves in and made ourselves at home. June went instantly to the polly pockets of course!
When my parents got home, Owen had already gone down to bed, so we played for a bit and chit chatted.
We played the booger game, which June LOVES! It's a super gross game where you pull out boogers, but if you pull the wrong one, the guys brain pops out. Ok it sounds super gross, but its actually funny, and oh does June love playing it!
We weren't there very long. We planned to be on the road the next morning, so my parents made the most of our visit. Early morning playing with connects!
We said goodbye, and it wasn't too sad because we knew I would be seeing them again in a week, and our stay would be a bit longer. So it was more of a see you in a few days goodbye!
The drive from Colorado to Utah was the most beautiful and the most stressful!
There was some heavy construction over the pass and we were at a dead stop for about an hour. I mean stopped completely to the point where people were out of their cars! To make it even better, we were stuck in the tunnel, and if you know me well enough, you know that my greatest fear is being stuck in tunnels and parking garages. Bring on the panic attack! I had to remind myself to steadily breath for 20 minutes until we were out. I hated it. I also had no service, so I couldn't call Dan to keep my mind off of the fact that I was under a mountain and cement tunnel that would crush me in an instant... Ah lets not talk about it.
Traffic for miles. But really pretty and I kept thinking that Dan would really appreciate this. He would be explaining to me how this was all formed. I was really missing him here.
So adding about 2 hours to our drive, we were ready to pull over and get lunch. The kids and I were tired, but we still had 3 hours to go, though we had been in the car for about 5 already.
Great story here. So we stopped at Wendy's, ate and then went outside to play and stretch our legs. Since we had been in the car for a long time, I let the kids play extra longer than I had originally planned. They were loving it, chasing each other and trying to climb this tree. As I go over to the tree, I feel a really sharp sting in the bottom of my foot. I had shoes on so I was confused at what it was... I grabbed it with my hand to see if it was maybe a thistle!? Oh wait, no, a bee had flown into my shoe and stung me! On the base of my foot right by my second toe. It hurt! So glad it wasn't one of the kids! So I tried getting the stinger out, but couldn't find it. I just assumed it fell out on its own. I was also happy that it was my left foot, so as badly as it was stinging I was still able to drive. Stupid bee.
After our pit stop and getting all organized again, we hit the road!
Owen fell asleep and June was watching a movie. I was able to listen to my book in quiet for the remainder of the drive, oh you think it was a long time? No. It was like a half hour before pulling up to my sisters house. Haha, Owen didn't fall asleep at all that day, except for the last bit of the drive. He was good, but I thought for sure he would fall asleep!
And just like that we were in Utah! It took us about 9 hours to get there. It was a long day and the kids were tired. I got them put to bed and then spent the night with my favorite crew. My sisters. Oh man we laugh so incredibly hard when we are all together. It was going to be such a good week!!
So I made it to Utah. We still had a drive to Idaho but we spent a few days in Utah. That's the next blog post to come! Stay tuned!
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