Day 5

Slept in just a little after our late night with Aunt Marilyn. Got up and moving finally and then Uncle Steve came home from work and we all had breakfast together. YUM!! It was the first real food we’d had in days, and homemade, too! We hung out just a little while longer and Katie messed with Aunt Marilyn’s computer. Around noon we finally packed up, said our goodbyes and headed out. After a minor incident at the Aurora Mall gas station, we hit the road with a full tank (and then some, apparently), some more snacks, and 25 bags of microwave popcorn. At this point, there is so little room that Katie took the popcorn out of the box and literally wedged it in any open cracks she could find between and under the seats. Sad.At this point in the trip, Katie and I had traveled into and out of 3.5 states (not counting the Four Corners) in 3 days. Day 5 left us with 3 more in just one day – our longest and, by far, most boring day of the trip. Let’s just say that Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana PALE in comparison to California, Arizona and Colorado, as far as scenery goes. With the exception of a few food stops, gas fill-ups, a hotel tour (future Thanksgiving reunion destination) and quick visits at two different Younkers stores (in search of a GORGEOUS sweater, which I could not find), we drove FAST & STRAIGHT for about 14 hours. Seriously. Straight. Like, “set the cruise control and take a nap” kind of straight. See for yourself – just look at I-80 on the map. Yawn.

The only real excitement of the day came 27 miles into Illinois when Katie and I met Officer Handsome (Katie's name for him - a "Friends" reference). 78 in a 65 and a written warning. Very personable man. Most pleasant traffic stop I’ve ever experienced, that’s for sure, and I’ve experienced my fair share, to say the least. Katie and I came very close to losing our minds during the last leg of the trip. I’d say that, out of the more than 2400 miles we drove, the last 50 were definitely the hardest. Almost had to pull the car over and give up. Yes, it was that bad.

Overall, it was a great trip. Mission accomplished – Katie’s home. We managed it without any accidents or vehicular mishaps of any kind, without getting a ticket (close doesn’t count), and without killing each other. So, for those of you who put money on only one of us returning, alive and in one piece, HA! Leave it to two very stubborn and competitive redheads to prove ya’ll wrong!!

Day 4

We waited for the sun to come up before hitting the road because of all the warning signs we were seeing last night. We packed into the car in the 11 degree cold of Colorado and started off toward Canon City to see the Royal Gorge Bridge. Once we got on the road, it became clear that we made a VERY good choice by stopping last night when we did. We weren’t just in the mountains. We were ON a mountain, and climbing higher, and then dipping lower, with every passing minute. Shortly after we began, we came to “Wolf’s Pass”. You might be thinking, “Interesting name…sounds kind of cool, wonder what that’s about?” Well, let me tell you. Have you ever seen a commercial or movie with one of those steep, wind-y mountain roads? The kind where it looks like the car, and the people in it, could plummet to their deaths on the rocks in the canyon below with the slightest wrong move. Yeah, it was like that. Only with a 3” icepack on the roads, and 5 feet of snow on either side of the road. Katie’s 2WD Jeep Compass with wimpy little California street tires didn’t take too well to that. We went about 2.5-3 hours at about 25-40MPH. Ouch.

Once we got out of the mountains, things cleared up pretty well and we started making much better time. Got to the Gorge and enjoyed the view from a scenic viewpoint in the parking lot – it’s $23 PER PERSON to go into the “Amusement Park” that they’ve built around the bridge. I would have loved to see the bridge a little closer, and maybe even drive across it, although, I’m not sure I really could have done it. I’m not afraid of driving over bridges, or heights, but I can’t express to you how high up in the air that bridge is. Not to mention the fact that the bottom of the bridge is wood planks that make noise as cars drive over it. Hmmm…. Yeah, not sure about that. I wonder if they have a team of people on staff who are on “Rescue” for those people who get part-way out and can’t finish, or who get to the other side, but can’t make themselves do it again to come back. I’m thinking that would be a good idea.

After the Gorge, we drove Northeast toward Colorado Springs. We had plans to stop in to Steve’s “sister” Harley Davidson, but found out a little too late that it’s actually in Pueblo and not actually in Colorado Springs. Bummer. So, from that point on, we blazed a fast-paced trail to Aurora, Nebraska – home of Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Steve. Got here right about 10pm, and then kept Marilyn up talking until about 1:30am. Good times. Slept on the most comfortable bed I’ve ever felt. Thank you, Gus’s. Home tomorrow!

Day 3

Slept in ‘til about 8-ish. Packed up and grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks, finally hitting the road by 9:30. We left Flagstaff, heading North toward the Grand Canyon. The drive was long, but gorgeous. It was chilly, but not as bad as we thought it would be. It was pretty windy, though – otherwise it would have been pretty nice. We stopped at a couple of scenic stops along the way, including the Little Colorado River Gorge – VERY cool, especially because it feels like you get a lot closer to the gorge than you do at the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful, and SO worth the stop.

From the Grand Canyon, we headed East toward the Four Corners (where Arizona, Utah, Colorado & New Mexico meet). That was an interesting experience because we spent hours driving there, which was a little out of the way from where we really needed to go, and when we got there, the sign read that the monument closes at 5pm. It was 4:54. As we drove in, the Native American couple that apparently runs the place was driving out. As they passed, they informed us that they were closing. We could not persuade them to let us go and just take a picture, so we drove forward to turn around and drove straight up to the monument. Well, we were too close to just turn around, so we pulled a “Chinese Firedrill” – scrambled from the car and VERY quickly took turns taking a picture of each other on the Four Corners. Then we dove back in the car and tore out of there. The couple was waiting at the gate to lock up, so we handed her the $6 that we were supposed to pay to go in, and we took off. Mission accomplished.

From there we headed East into New Mexico and then North into Colorado. Our plan was to make it to Colorado Springs, but because of our leisurely pace it just didn’t look like we could make it there before 1am. On top of that, we’re driving through the mountains of Colorado, in the dark, with the occasional ice patch, and random ELK standing alongside the road. When we finally found civilization in the town of Pagosa Springs, we made the decision to call it a night and find the nearest Best Western (pet friendly) so we could crash for the night. I feel better about traveling icy roads in daylight, and we’ll be able to actually SEE the mountains through which we’re driving. So, after a 12 hour day, we’re crashing and preparing for an early morning. Big plans for tomorrow! More pictures here...

Day 2

Left Aunt Eileen's at about 9:30am PST - right on schedule. Started heading East and eventually found the desert. Spent some time there. Found a cool outlet mall. Lots of mountains, cacti, and mile markers. Incredible sunset. Got to Grandma Barnhart's around 6:30 and hung out with her and Aunt Barb and Uncle Jon. It was good to see Grandma after so long - sure wish she was closer! She's never met Abby, and only met Jacob when he was a baby. I wish they could know her, and I know she would LOVE them. After about 3 hours of catching up, Katie and I hit the road again, heading north to Flagstaff. About 30 minutes out we ran into our first snow of the trip. None on the roads, just on the ground on all sides. The stars were INCREDIBLE. Glad to get to the hotel - I need some more sleep! Check out some more pictures here.

Day 1

Things started off a little rough. Went to bed about 1:30am. Set the alarm for 5:45am. Woke up at 7:10am. Flight takes off at 7:10am. That's a problem.

Called NWA to see what in the world a person should do if they actually SLEEP THROUGH their flight... They encouraged me to get to the airport ASAP because the counter crew can transfer me to another flight. So, to the airport we went.

Got on a 10:15am flight to Detroit - took off about 20 minutes late, which meant we got into Detroit a little late, which meant that I got to RUN to the opposite side of the airport to catch my next flight. Ahhh...Good times. About 4 hours later I landed in L.A.

After an extended visit with the 405, we got to Aunt Eileen's in Huntington Beach. We talked with her and waited for our cousins to get there to go out for dinner. Ate the best fish I've ever had in my life at King's (thanks Mark, Wendy & John!) and laughed HARD with those guys - they are HYSTERICAL!! After hanging out with those guys, we drove down to Katie's apartment and loaded up the rest of her stuff in the back of the Jeep. Not a pretty sight.

We crashed HARD when we got back to Aunt Eileen's, then got up this morning to re-pack the car and get ready to go.

Abby's 7

We celebrated Abby's 7th birthday on Monday with a SNOW DAY (for no good reason, except it being Abby's birthday), lunch at China One, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Albright, and then some time with the McMullens. But, the actual celebration started with a "small group" party on Saturday night with the McMullens, Ruths and Verduins. Then we had an "all GIRL" birthday party on Sunday with 7 of Abby's friends at Pages In Time (where else??). It was our first experience with a real classmate party, where kids are dropped off and left for a period of time under my, and (fortunately for all of us) Tammy's supervision. Um, wow. That was a wake-up call. Eight squeeling, giggling, running, dancing 6 & 7 year olds... At least it's only once a year! We started with taking pictures of each of the girls, then they got to make a door hanger craft using some shimmery fun paper and stickers, along with their pictures. The girls seemed to have a good time, and Abby was happy, so it was all worth it. It's safe to say, though, that I wouldn't have survived it without Tammy's help!!

Some memorable things about Abby's 7th year: She lost more teeth, grew some more back (confirming her future need for braces...), took ice skating lessons, played soccer, took swimming lessons and ballet, finished Kindergarten and started 1st grade, visited Shedd Aquarium, the Apple Festival and the pumpkin patch, traveled to Kenosha, Iowa and "Up North" Wisconsin, learned to ride a two-wheeler, got her first American Girl doll, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Abby has grown SO much this last year - not just in height, but in academics, maturity and personality. She's reading chapter books now and her favorite subject in school is MATH! She loves her teacher, Mrs. Kuc, and gets along so well with her friends. Her very best friends in the world, after Jacob and her cousin Kaitlyn, are Allison and Rachel, with whom she still spends a lot of time. Not nearly as much as this time last year - we're not doing childcare with the McMullen's every day like we did last school year. Abby is "a very happy girl" (confirmed by her teacher), VERY social, and as *free-spirited* as they come. She's a cuddler in every sense of the word. Grandma has affectionately nicknamed her "Velcro" as she is quick to attach herself to you in a very close, personal-space-out-the-window kind of way. I love, love that about her (unless I'm sleeping - but even then, after the fact, it's so adorable, in a slightly annoying, stay-OUT-of-my-bed kind of way).

Abby and Jacob are still super close, which THRILLS me beyond words. They get along well, rarely arguing. When they do, it's usually because they're playing too rough and Jacob gets hurt. (She's a little less careful and a little less concerned with the consequences than our first born) Just recently I "caught" them reading together in his room - Jacob listening to her read, and vice versa. It brought tears to my eyes, and I pray that they remain that close - or at least find their way back after whatever adolescence brings their way.

I continue to marvel at what Abby has brought into our lives and God's perfect plan and timing. Left up to me, we never would have had another baby so soon. I was scared, overwhelmed and unprepared. Or so I thought. But God knew better, and it wasn't about me anyway. Our family NEEDED her - Jacob, Adam and I were all lacking something. I could never have fully understood it then, but with each passing day, month and year it becomes more obvious. She brings light and joy and nearly constant entertainment, intermixed with the occasional frustration over a lack of "focus" or concern for time constraints... But what's parenting without perpetual lessons in patience, right?

Abby, I am so proud of you, and I am honored to have been entrusted with your care for as long as God sees fit. My prayer is that you will seek after Him with your whole heart, while remaining fully aware of and passionate for those around you who don't know Him yet. You have such a soft and compassionate heart, and I can't wait to see what God has planned for your life. You have such tremendous potential - I know you are going to do great things, and I am so excited to see what kind of woman you will become. But there is absolutely no rush. PLEASE, if not for me then for you...SLOW DOWN.

"It means a lot to me that you were His child long before you were ever mine. I love you with all the power of my being and He loves you more than that. Don't forget it."

-Mom

counting down the days...

So, I fly out on the 15th and arrive in Orange County, California before noon. We'll spend the afternoon and evening with Aunt Eileen before heading out on Sunday morning. From there it'll go something like this:

• Sunday - Drive to Phoenix and spend some time with Grandma (Holt) Barnhart, Aunt Barb, Uncle Jon, and anyone else we can dig up in that town. We'll drive up to Prescott, Az. to spend Sunday night.
• Monday - Hopefully a drive-by of the Grand Canyon, a quick stop-over at the Royal Gorge Bridge (I've always wanted to see that!), and then on to Colorado Springs, Co. for the night.
• Tuesday - Check out whatever there is to see in Colorado Springs (anyone have any suggestions for me??) and the head out for Aurora, Ne. We'll hang out with the Nebraska fam - The Gustafson's: Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Steve, and again, anyone else we can dig up... We'll spend the night with the Gus's, and then the REALLY interesting part of the trip begins!!
  
• Wednesday - Nebraska to Indiana. The most boring drive in the history of, well... driving.

Should be home, theoretically speaking, by Wednesday night. That would be ideal since it would give me one day to recover before heading back to work on Friday. Of course, this is highly contingent on WEATHER, and all other things travel related. If we know in advance that the weather will be bad in the mountainous wonderland of Colorado, we'll head East out of Arizona and go the more Southern route. Katie says it's not as pretty that way, and I think it takes a little longer, so let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Wish us luck! (we're probably going to need it...)