Tripping on the Road

Our family vacation last month was a VERY long road trip. It actually went pretty well. It turns out 52 hours of drive time aren't so bad when you have kids who will stay transfixed on a movie for as long as you can stand to listen to it playing in the back seat.

The first day, we drove from our home to Arizona (13 hours drive time) where Leann and Matt live (my best friend from college and her husband).

Most of the drive looked like this:


With the occasional increase in prettiness, like this:


One of our favorite parts of that drive is the experience of driving along I-10 through El Paso, Texas. At one point, the freeway butts right up against the Rio Grande and the border with Mexico. So on one side of the freeway is your typical American city and on the other side is this:

The contrast always fascinates us. Those houses definitely wouldn't be up to code around here...

We spent a day in Arizona, then drove to the San Francisco Bay Area (13 hours drive time) to see my parents and my sister and her husband who were at my parents' house. We spent three days with my family there, then drove with all of them back to Southern California (5.5 hours drive time) and saw my aunt. We spent a day in SoCal, then we drove back to Arizona the next day (7.5 hours drive time), my sister drove back to Utah, and my parents went back home. The last day we drove all the way home from Arizona (13 hours drive time). The first day and the last day were pretty rough because you can drive basically all day and guess what? You're STILL in Texas.

There was a mishap or two along the way. Like this one involving EZ Cheese:

(Note to self: When trying to retrieve Scott's blanket from the bowels of the back seat while sitting in the front passenger seat, DO NOT lean on the nozzle of the cheese in a spray can. Now who wants some crackers with cheese? Get it while it's hot and/or all over the center console!!!)

When the terrain wasn't flat, flat, and flat, there were cool rocks:


And then, at last, we knew we must be back in Texas:

Our thoughts: Sweet, we're finally in Texas. Only 10 more hours to go!