Before I Forget

I need to take a few minutes to fondly recall our trip. It's been several days since we "officially" arrived. I can say with all honesty that I do not enjoy driving across the USA. I know some people do it for pure pleasure, and I can respect that. It's just not for me. Maybe I dislike it because the Army tells us to do it. Maybe I dislike it because it feels like we are on a strict time schedule. Maybe I dislike it because I'm going to the unknown. (We all know how I feel about the unknown.) Anyway, it's over. This trip seemed to go a little smoother than two years ago.

The first photo is of our moving truck and our boxes... some of them. The next picture is a sight I saw for many miles... the boy in the back seat with his toys and his "girls" (picture #4). I drove the Jeep with Elijah and the cats and so much stuff I couldn't see out of the back window. Dan drove the truck with himself and a good portion of the luggage in the back. We did manage to squeeze in a few fun adventures... picture #3 is a Salt Wash in Utah.

I even have some nice memories... the beautiful deep canyons in parts of Utah, the unbelievable Rocky Mountains (we drove through snow at Vail Peak!), the fun restaurant in Denver (Mexican Cliff Divers!), the Oz Museum in Kansas, the rolling hills of Kentucky with their obviously expensive horse farms, and all the green grass and trees! (Finally!)

I did not enjoy the extra day we spent in Denver when the truck broke down. The money we spent having that repaired. The day that Elijah sat in gum (his own) in the back seat and proceeded to peel off all his clothes. (I was so afraid we were gonna be stopped for indecent exposure.) The winds in Utah that were almost impossible to drive in. Stopping for gas and having to fill up two vehicles. (I will spare you all the pain of telling you just how much we spent in gas alone to get here. It's too painful.) Unloading and reloading the two vehicles every night and every morning at the hotels. Trying to keep the cats (cat) from escaping and running down the hotel hallway. Dealing with an active 9 year-old at night in a hotel after he's been in the car all day. I suppose if those are the worst things that happened... we are all doing well. Blessed. And, as I "blog" this, I am surrounded by family. That's a nice happy ending to a long exhausting journey.