We had a great trip from San Deigo to Texas with fun stops along the way.
Day one - even thought we had been up 'til midnight packing and cleaning Monday, Tues we and to get up early to finish packing and get everything out of the house! Dave Bruson, bless him, showed up at 7:30am with doughnuts which was so great since we had already packed up and cleaned the kitchen. The kids and Dave took one last dip in the pool and then the kids sat in the car for about an hour waiting for us to get everthing done. I don't know why they did this when we had a full day in the car already but I guess they were just too excited!
We finally left around 11 to head for Tuscon, we tried to stop and buy Dave a phone along the way, but the road was closed so we ended up taking a major detour. Then we got to the phone store and they had an idiot sales rep who would not honor the listed price so dave walked out. After basically 2 hours in the car we finally hit the road.
We ate lots of junk in the car which was kind of fun for the kids!
We arrived in Tuscon around 8:30 and drove through in-n-out for the final time before leaving it for a year! Unfortunately they messed up our order so it wasn't the wonderful in-n-out experience of San Diego. By the time we got to the hotel, it was bed time. Calvin had fallen asleep in the car which made bed time a little easier!
Day 2 - We woke up in Tuscon and had a great breakfast at the hotel and then the kids swam. Dave made a couple more attempts at getting his phone. Calvin liked going with him and I watched the girls swim. We hit the road by noon and drove to White Sands. Along the way we passed a sign that said salt flats so dave pulled over to taste the dirt. He said it tasted like dirt, not salt. Also, Clare was sitting by jo and leaned her head onto Jo's lap. At first jo was looking in Clare's mouth and ears but then she got a hold of Clare's nose and pulled on it so hard it gave clare a bloody nose. Dave stopped for fireworks and dairy queen as we drove.
White sands was amazing! We were there in the evening when it was a little cooler and we got to see the sunset. We drove back to the hotel when the park closed and when it was too dark to play on the dunes (around 9pm), arriving at our hotel around 10pm, with Jo and Calvin asleep in the car. Clare, Lexey and I went to IHOP next to the hotel for dinner after we got our room situated. The service was slow. Clare ate 3 full pancakes and was sick after! In bed around 11:30 in Las Cruces, NM.
In all of our hotel rooms we had a room with two double beds and on nights and two there was a separate room with a couch bed for Calvin. For Jo we brought the pack n play so it worked out for everyone to have a bed. night 3 the hotel room had enough beds and space but there was not a full wall/door separating Calvin from the others so we had to go sit in the lobby when he got up early. Calvin was up first every day, around 6:30am California time. The girls could sleep much longer.
Day 3 - Woke up and let the kids swim again and ate breakfast at the hotel. Hit the road around 11. New Mexico was beautiful to drive through on both days. We could see lots of storms rolling in over the valleys. We got to Carlsbad Caverns around 3:40 just before the natural entrance to the cave closed. Calvin wasn't going to make the hike in so he and I lingered in the gift shop and then took the elevator down. The girls hiked in with dave. It took about an hour to hike in. Once in the cave, the kids were all freaked out and scared. Well, mostly the girls. Calvin was indifferent. We walked around the cave for about an hour to see everything inside and then went back up. After a little time in the visitors center. We went back to the car to kill time and have a snack until the bat flight at 7:30.
It was neat seeing the bats fly. After the bat flight we got in the car around 8:30 and then went to Carlsbad for dinner. We ordered a pizza and stopped in the grocery story for some fruit and water to go with it. Then, we had a 2.5 hour drive to Fort Stockton. Most of the drive was on a tiny country road through the middle of nowhere! All 4 kids asleep when we got to the hotel around midnight. The two time zone changes made us later and later as we traveled!
Day 4 - Next morning more swimming. we stopped at a doughnut shop to get a doughnut because the girls had not gotten a good breakfast since they got up so late. The doughnut shop was sold out already! So we went next door to sonic and ordered milkshakes! There isn't much to see between Fort Stockton and San Antonio. in San Antonio we stopped at Chick fil A to eat and let the kids play and wiggle. Poor JoJo - her diaper split on the slide and made a big mess. (we had to put her in a diaper because there were no bathrooms along the way and when we stopped at the rest stop she wouldn't use the scary bathrooms. She would just ask for a diaper when she needed to go to the bathroom on this trip!) Anyway, she was so embarrassed and sad. She cried for 20 minutes. It got cleaned up the the playground re opened so the kids could continue playing. It is fun how kids just love to play and make friends everywhere! Then we were Houston bound! We arrived at our house around 8pm. Our moving truck had arrived that morning and my next door neighbor signed for it so that we could have it dropped off before the weekend. We pulled a few things off the truck; mattresses and a few boxes, before it got too dark and then went out for some food. The kids got lunchables, frozen chicken pot pie, etc. from the grocery store and we also picked up milk and cereal, etc. In bed super late again
Day 5 - Elders quorum came around 7 to help us unload the truck. Then we spent the day unpacking and setting up beds, etc. We also went to target and Costco. We spent 200 at target for odds and ends such as cleaning supplies a couple of rugs and curtains for the kid bedrooms. Then at Costco we spent 300 on food, stocking up, plus 300 on a rug and a mattress for jo. There was some misunderstanding about beds so we needed one extra. Dave about had a heart attack at spending so much money in one day but I figure it is just part of the move. That being said, there are a few more things I need but will probably not be able to get at this time!
Day 6 - Church in our new ward! Real life starts! And now I really miss Tressel. To be honest I was thankful not to have him during the packing and the move, but now that we're here and almost settled I wish I had my dog!
Pics to come.
So thankful all went well. Nobody barfed in the car, our stuff arrived on time so we didn't have to camp at home, Calvin did well on the trip (in fact we think he thrives on road trips -- unlimited junk food and electronics with no physical demands).... planning another road trip for spring break week in March to see some of the south!
PS. We have some major electrical issues in the house. Hope to have them resolved this week...can't run the major appliances! boo.
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