Road Trip 2016: Week 4: Driving Home

After two fun-filled weeks in Utah, it was time to hit the road again.

We gave hugs and said good-bye and embarked

on my very favorite day of driving:

Over the Rockies.

Gorgeous even in the middle of orange construction barrels.

We stopped at beautiful Rainbow Park in Silverthorne, CO.

The place was packed!

I dream of playing tennis with Andrew on those far courts one day!

B talked some kid into letting him borrow his scooter for a while.

It was National Ice Cream Day while we were

there and some nice people walked around handing out 

free ice cream. Yes, please!

We got to drive through a couple awesome tunnels along the way.

We also made a super quick stop at Georgetown Lake.

We like to throw rocks in.

And breathe the mountain air.

We stop here almost every year.

Look how little B and W were the first time we did:

We stopped to see Amy and Dave for a 

WAY-TOO-SHORT visit!

These girls had so much fun together.

It was hard to pull them apart after only a couple of hours.

And Jack and Whitney bonded over Harry Potter and Legos.

Brandon is a giant.

I loved catching up with Amy and Dave.
And eating delicious soup.

We drove a couple more hours after

dinner so we could make it to NM.

The next day we were off to TX

Whitney had a cool book with

birds you could build.

It was fun to see her creations.

We stopped at a science center in Amarillo.

Apparently it wasn't very memorable,

because this was the only pic I got there.

We saw lots and lots of giant windmills.

Also big herds of antelope

And lots of deer.

And then, just after dusk when we were outside of

Brownwood, Texas....

I GOT PULLED OVER!!!

What???

In my many, many thousands of miles of driving around the country,

I HAVE NEVER BEEN PULLED OVER.

I was shocked!

And nervous!

And didn't have an up-to-date insurance card with me.

Which made me more nervous.

But, it was fine.

It turns out one of my tail lights had burned out.

Easy enough to fix!

Cost me less than a dollar the next day.

(Then it turned out, it wasn't the bulb that burned out,

and I just had to jiggle the connection...but anyway...)

We love visiting Grandma Cuca's house.

Riding the propane pony. :)

Chinese checkers

Caroline helped her with her reading.

Whit played rummy with Grandma.

The quaint and pretty courthouse

Our annual trip to Harry's to smell the boots.

Swimming with Jenna

This intersection cracked me up:

The corner of High and Dry!

Grandma made us some of her DELICIOUS tortillas.

And before we knew it,

we had to say good-bye.

We were so sad Grandma didn't feel up to joining

us on the road trip this year.

But were so happy that we could still spend time with her in San Saba!

Next, we were off to Ft. Worth.

Irene treated the kids to some jumping time at the trampoline park.

Woo hoo!

Such a fun Aunt!

We stayed the night with her and Uncle Bill.

The kiddos LOVE their dogs.

Especially Caroline.

The next day we had to drive through Dallas.

Not my favorite day of driving. :/

Stopped at Sci-Port in Shreveport, LA.

C and I got to watch some cool chemistry demos.

Bed of nails.

Star tunnel.

Now the landscape was starting to look more like home.

We stayed the night at a scary hotel in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Usually I can trust TripAdvisor to get me a place I like.

This time, the reviewers led me astray!

When your hotel shares a parking lot with Wal-Mart

and has a gated entry...not a good sign.

But we survived.

The next day, we stopped in Atlanta at

THE BEST NINJA GYM.

Why don't more cities have gyms like 

Slingshot????

It was AMAZING.

What we loved:

1. You didn't have to take classes to try the course

(LOTS of ninja gyms across the country make you pass 

an introductory class or be enrolled in classes)

2. It wasn't timed

(Most of the ninja places we've visited charge you by the hour.)

3. It was HUGE

4. They had a separate course for smaller kids

(PERFECT for Caroline!)

5. They had a salmon ladder!

Right at home on the rock wall

Spider Climb

Cliff hanger

W's turn on the spider climb.

That thing is harder than it looks!

I may have biffed it several times while trying.

But there's no photographic evidence.

SUCH a perfect way to end the road trip.

Would love to come back here again.

We made it!

It was another FABULOUS road trip.

We loved visiting with everyone and

having fun adventures.

And it's always great to be HOME.