States, Stats, and This and That.

My heavens, we are back!! Finally! It was fun but man I'm so glad to be back to my house, my space, my things,my mess. Here is a recap of our vacation.

We left home early... ok, at a good time and headed out. After 2 hours we stopped for breakfast and about 6 hours later we made it to Nevada.

*For those that don't know, the state line for Nevada is crossing the Hoover Dam. For what ever reason it was REALLY busy that day. This picture was taken while I was still in the car because traffic was so slow, due to all the people.

*Don't EVER try to find a gas station on the strip. Pointless!

Then it's a short drive through Arizona.

I think we were only in the top corner of Arizona for about 30 miles... nothing exciting happen during this time.

After that we were in Utah.
*We spent 3 weeks in Utah with friends and family.

(Now at this point if you are wondering YES, I took all these pictures. Stopped on the road and took them. I have a great camera and was able to enlarge them with out it being to blurry.) (Now I also know my dad is shaking his head at this)

*The boys got to help wash Grandma and Grandpa's Harley's, boy that was a highlight for them!

*We spent the 4th of July with the Hunsakers, and James loved the fireworks.

*We enjoyed time with Steve's family for a reunion.

*More time with family, and friends. We got to enjoyed a trip to the temple.

Then one Thursday morning we got up and started our trek out to see Steve.

*Because we got up so early we stopped for breakfast. I packed some stuff for us to eat at a rest stop. Well the one that we stopped at had a little playground!! GENIUS! So the boys got to play for a bit. And we saw buffalo!

*Wyoming is a whole lot of nothing, and the roads are very straight, and the signs that tell you how far you have to go, they are no where to be seen!

*Don't speed in Laramie, Wyoming the tickets are VERY expensive. Yes I got a ticket. (my dad, again shaking his head)

That takes us to Nebraska.

*So because we were making good time (speeding again?) I decided that we'ld meet Steve in Omaha. So we drove all the way across Wyoming and Nebraska in one day.

*The Highway Patrol are around and alert here too. (I know dad!) I only got a warning this time for swerving. In my defence I swerved because Tommy shrieked. do you want to know about what? A bug? No. James did something? Nope. He dropped his raisins!!

*I got lost in Omaha. What a joy that was.

*The PayPal building is in Omaha. (just if you wanted to know)

So the next day we caravaned to Missouri, but before that we go through Iowa.

We were in Iowa for about an hour. Fortunately no tickets here.

Ok, so we made it to Missouri!

(boring sign)

After spending the night in Omaha with Steve, it was nice coming to a bigger hotel room.

*We had tons of fun with Steve, and the boys just couldn't get enough of him.

*We went to a children's museum, had Family Home Evening, and lots of other things.

*We decided that we didn't like the Kansas City Zoo.

*We found a way to have more privacy in a hotel room with 3 boys.

*And we went to see some of the Church history in the area. (if you didn't get a chance to see this post take a look)

*The freeways in Missouri are like someone though spaghetti at a map and said..."Hey that looks good, let's build the roads there" No logic what so ever.

Unfortunately we were only able to stay a week, so here we go again. Back in the car to set out again. Hop skip and a jump later, we were in Kansas.

*Kansas is a big state and it took us a long time to cross it.

*Just so everyone knows there is a little town in Kansas called Liberal and as you are driving down the main road through town (that is a whole mile and a half of it) the speed limit is 30mph. Want to know how I know this.... the officer told me! (My heavens! I had to get out and see if someone put a sign on my car that said "Look at me.... I'm probably speeding") The cruse control and I became best friends after this. Fortunately the officer just told me to slow down.

*Every city in Kansas claims they are the one in Wizard of Oz

Next stop...

*There is a road in Oklahoma called 'Bazaar Cattle Crossing' Did nobody think this through?

*We stopped for the night in Guymon Oklahoma which smelled like stinky shoes.

*I'm boycotting (and would like all of you to do the same) the Taco Bell in Guymon. The service was horrible, and I won't be going back.

*Even though the service was bad at Taco Bell, we met a guy who was on cross county motorcycle ride and let the boys sit on his bike. The boys told him all about grandma and grandpa's motorcycles.

We left bright and early and made it to Texas in no time.

*Not a whole lot went on here (fortunately). Just drove right on through.

On too..

*Got stuck in traffic.

*There is a city in New Mexico called (are you ready) Truth or Consequences. I'm serious. Wouldn't you love to live in that city?

So that would bring us too...

HOME!!!!

We made it in one piece. Over 3,000 miles of the road. The boys were great, and did a great job in the car.

Here are a few random stats about our trip.

One or both boys peed on the highway of 9 out of 11 states that we went through. (Aren't boys great!) Tommy loved swaying in the wind telling me that he was making mud.

I can do 61 butt flexes in a mile going 75 miles an hour.

It takes 78 miles to listen to "My Turn on Earth" all the way through.

Wendy's is definitely better than McDonald's.

Missouri was the only state that when they had a "Men at Work" sign, they were really working.

We listen to an Omaha radio station 120 miles away from Omaha.

Got pulled over 3 times, one ticket, two warnings, only one was written up.

We now get counting down the days before Steve has some leave to fly out to Arizona. He'll be shipped out not long after that. Then it's one year "boots in country"

So that was our trip in a nutshell... Hope you enjoyed.