The Road Trip that WILL NOT END!!!!

Oh my goodness, you think you know someone, then you take a road trip; then you really get to know someone! Well, the trip would not end!!! I thought I was going to die- poor Laura, she thought she was going to die too!

Well, Let's start at the top! We lest Spokane around 3 or so in the afternoon on Sunday the 14th. About 3 hours late, of course! Laura Shearer, a High School teacher in Spokane, and friend since high school, kindly and WILLINGLY came with us on our hike across the country! Cody my 15 yr. old brother came too! We split up children, and dog and began our journey, this great adventure across the States! What better way to know America than to drive it! Well, Montana was the first leg, and it was beautiful the first day! We made it to Billings around 3 am or so, and left again, around 8 or 9 am. We were pretty beat, but optimistic; that is until we started driving again, did you know that parts of Montana you can see the road for miles!!! Flat and hilly-for miles!!!! I actually drove on the other side of the road out of shear boredom!!!I thought it was kinda awesome to do that! Also, when you lay on the horn at cows by the road, they don't even move their head-and yes, Laura threatened to unplug the horn! And only the second day! There are many cows in this great nation, and they all ook the same, in mt, wy, sd, ks, ms, ill, and in!!! Well, I must say It was nice to see briefly Mt. Rushmore, and it was beautiful! We made it to CO as well to see our friends the Kays and the Huttos, both of which waited all day for us to show for us to be about 3-4 hours late! Construction is everywhere and we were continually about 3 hrs later after leaving Spokane that way. CO Springs was beautiful and the hotel we had there- not so much. Never judge the hotel by just one picture-James about died that night. Roomy, but in a bad side of town. Let's say we locked all the doors! We also passed the Budweiser place coming into CO, unfortunately, no time to stop- oh man! But I loved CO! So yes, we're all getting well acquainted with each other by now, and we're switching off driving. Laura and Cody took all the kiddos in the Suburban while James and I got some"alone time" in the moving truck;that lasted about three hours before they were ready to strap them to the roof of the Suburban! That's ok, teenage boy smell in the truck kinda ruined the time for me with James! The mid west-well, let's say I'm so glad I'm not a pioneer or a cowboy! It was hot and boring! Same thing for miles, we did see some really cool wind turbines across some fields in KS, so that was awesome! Never again will I go through there- the only thing I learned about America there is that if you see a nice potty, you stop, and make yourself go! We did get to see my Dad in Independence, MO, for a few minutes that night as I was getting the kiddos to bed. Ill, was hot and humid, we got out and couldn't breathe, same in Indiana, but we eventually made it to Elizabethtown, KY. Yes the same as the movie! My grandmother lives just down the road in Radcliffe/Ft. Knox, so we stay in E-Town, as the locals call it, because of more hotels. Well, our hotel over booked us, and they said there is no room in the inn for you! Sad words to hear after driving for so long! And yes, I was looking for a stable to sleep in! But they sent us to the Best Western across the street and we slept there. It was a bed, and it was free-even better- so we ditched Cody and Laura and went to my one time a year stop, or prego and craving the frozen ones, White Castle. I love them, but can only have them once a year because of the grease- and yeas Crystal Burgers are better, I just grew up with these! We also saw my grandparents the next day for about an hour before we got back on the road again; it's hard to grow up sometimes when you realize Grandparents don't stay the same, the get older too! It's hard to see that set in and change, but it does. We had a quick change of plans and went to WVA, instead of Tenn. My friend was horribly sick that week and weren't able to see them, but that's life and we plan on seeing them again soon later on down the road! It was nice though to be a little closer to our destination. We Laura and I, took many detours and had a lot of laughs, esp. looking for service for her phone-T Moblie, and wondering if she'll ever be able to make a call or text again! We also had a sick teenager, who passed it to me the last day of course driving through WVA hills-because my smart husband who I would love to kill, didn't want to go on the toll road-next time, we pay! It was windy and curvy the whole freaking state highway! Beautiful, but loopy! Laura did all the driving the final day, poor Laura! I was still sick the day after and didn't help unpack the truck, then James got it, we were both out of it for a day or two. Then on Monday, after we finally made it there, we had the bright idea of driving yet again to NC, as if we didn't cover enough by driving through a tenth of the states, and got some furniture and stuff from my other grandparents. They are older now and no longer living in their home and we are broke college students without furniture-so we went down south, only to find, you'll never guess, road construction. A 4 hr. drive became six, and we loaded yet another truck, with yet more stuff. So, James went back to DC, and I went further south to the beach were my Aunt and Uncle are. We've been just chillin' out and relaxing. The kiddos have been burning off energy and getting spoiled. My grandparents are also living here with them, as they can't be on there own anymore. They are so well taken care of here! However, relaxing is not my deck of cards, because today at the pool, the kiddos starting getting sick, so two down, James is the only one left. I text Laura, who parted ways in Jacksonville with her cousin for a week and half, to tell her to watch out, is now getting over it too. So, they didn't get to see the beach this trip, but will next time, I plan on coming back down again , once we've settled and seeing them again. But, they did get to ride on my Uncle Frank's Harley and they loved it. He just took them around they neighborhood, because they were underage, but i got to go one the highway- awesome! I have never felt so free, it was all I imagined and then some! I can't wait till I get my bike! I'll get pictures up once I'm back in DC! We're going to try and go home on Saturday depending on when I can put the kiddos in the car again. Cody has had fun here with my cousins and I'm so glad to see family again. Makes moving a little easier. When we go back it will be different, we will be unpacking and settling in. When Cody and Laura leave on the 7th of July, that will be hard, then our lives on our own will really begin. But we know this is where we're supposed to be and can't wait to see where we go, life's an adventure and we look forward to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!So we made it here and resting up a little, probably not tonight as I'm watching for vomiting babies, but that's okay! They had a long trip too. They did really well, as long as the three of them were never together for any length of time! I'll post pics soon! Continue to pray for a job for James, we really need one!
~Leslie~