One Last Trip

To complete our summer we made one last trip to see Jason's grandmother in Missouri.   We love her dearly and I wish we could bring her back with us (we tried)!  

We logged another 1600 miles on the old Quest to travel to and from.  We are so blessed to have kids that travel well!   Guess it helps that they had DVD players, my ipod, and a bunch of snacks to keep them happy.  I always worry about movie overload on these long trips but to our surprise they would watch one or two and request to take a break from watching movies and instead listen to music or play games.  They rarely sleep while on the road but on this trip they all took at least one cat nap.  I know it takes longer, but I think this is my preferred method of travel!  No lines,  cramped spaces, rude passengers, checked bags,  crappy movies, and all those fun "perks" of flying...plus it is waaaaay cheaper!   The kids don't seem to mind either.  They are pretty good about going with the flow and are always happy just to travel!

I really didn't take a lot of pictures on this trip but here are a few in no particular order...

We were less than an hour away from Grandmother's at this point.  It was such a beautiful sunset!

This is a McDonalds that crosses over the highway in Oklahoma.  The center part over the highway is the dining room of the restaurant.  It has a McDonald's museum too.  We passed under it last year and said we would stop this year.  Its gross.  It was dirty and there were flies everywhere!  Been there...done that...never again!

This is a road hazard on all accounts!  That is a rusty riding mower propped up on its side.  We definitely questioned the safety (and sanity) of this setup and quickly got around them!  This wasn't the only scary pickup truck bed we came across.  We also found ourselves behind one pickup carrying a small bass boat NOT STRAPPED IN.  It was just laying in the bed of the truck with half its length hanging out the back and not one rope, tie, or chain holding it in.  Later on we saw another truck carrying a pile of logs...same thing.  Back end open, no restraints!  At least this truck made use of  ropes!

This is the first time the kids all wanted to share the same space to sleep.  I was a little worried because both Riley and Daniella are crazy (near violent) sleepers!  I thought someone (or all of them) would wake up with bruises...or maybe a broken nose...but everyone made it through the night injury free!

The kids having lunch with Grandmother.  I think we (OK, I) came back 10lbs heavier!  She made pies, lemon bars, and a bunch of other sweets that we couldn't (OK, didn't) say no to as well as some of her specialty dishes which could very well be used as currency in our family!  In all honesty, we've been back for over a week and I am still "full"! 

Wish I had more pictures to share.  Like I said I really didn't take too many.  I'm glad we were able to go again and hopefully we'll make it back up there again soon.