Adam got out of school May 21 at noon. I had high hopes to be on the road, driving to Denver moments after he got off the school bus. However, I had spent so much time getting ready for the trip, I was exhausted. Mike encouraged me to wait and be well rested. It wasn't like I had a deadline (except yard saling with Jacqui on Saturday morning).
So, I waited until Friday morning to start my LLLLOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG trek across the United States.
My dear friend, Melissa lives in St Louis, MO. That is a good 5 1/2 hours from home, so I figured that would be a great place for a lunch break. We had a delightful time with Melissa and her kids. Then we got in the car. As we were driving out of her neighborhood, we had the windows rolled down. I kept hearing a rythmic clicking sound coming from the back passenger tire. When I stopped to get gas, I checked my tires. Sure enough, I had a screw in the back passenger tire. I called my mom and opened my FAVORITE atlas--the Wal Mart atlas.
It has every WalMart in the United States listed. I know, it is a shameless advertising ploy. BUT it works. You know, when Mike and I were looking at getting tires, I said, "I think we should get them from Walmart. With all of the driving I do, there is always a Walmart in the next town." There was a WalMart just 4 miles up the freeway. They repaired my tire for FREE (I had the road hazzard warrenty) and I was on my way in about an hour.
The rest of the trip was un eventful. We stayed in Kansas City at a nice hotel that had a pool. My kids couldn't get enough. Since we were the only ones in the pool, I let them get all of their energy out. The pool was only 5 feet deep and the hot tub shared a wall. Adam and Amanda loved going from the hot tub to the pool and back.
We were about halfway through Kansas, when Adam shared the most important truth of the trip, "MOM, Kansas is SOOO long!" It is folks. Adam also asked, "Mom, how many states have we been through?" I started to count, "We started in Tennessee, then Kentucky, then Illinois, then Missouri. We are in Kansas right now and we will be in Colorado in a few hours." Yes. SIX states and by the time this trip is over, we will count Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
To their credit the kids did awesome. Thank goodness for DVD players, Leapsters and Lots of coloring books.
Memorial Day Weekend was GREAT. We went out to Daniel's Park. Memorial Day and Daniel's Park is special for many reasons. When we were kids, Mom and Dad would wake us up at some unearthly hour to drive out there and make breakfast on a campstove. All of us kids grumbled and complained, but we loved it. We would eat breakfast and then spend the morning climbing and hiking around. I don't remember there being so many rock cliffs. Mom, Pop, Jacqui, Kraig, Andrew and Josh were all there. It was great to share it with my kids. Thanks Kraig for the YUMMY french toast.
Memorial Day and Daniel's Park is also special because Mike proposed to me 10 years ago on Memorial Day weekend. He wanted to propose to me out at Daniel's Park, but I got lost because they had changed the road since my mission and then it started to rain. Mike proposed on my parent's front porch, but that is a story for another time.
Every year, my college girlfriends (the Half Way House) meet up. Every year is different based on needs and where we are in our life, but this year, 4 of the 5 of us met in Salt Lake City without husbands, without children. I have a whole bunch of stuff to say, but I really have to say thanks to Jacqui who watched my kids for 4 DAYS so I could have a perfect, relaxing vacation. It was so nice to hang out with friends, eat lots of good food, go to a few nice resturants that DIDN'T have kid's menus or a playplace.
Jacqui assured me everytime I called that the children were absolute angels and that she had everything undercontrol. I believe that she had everything undercontrol...not too sure about the angels part.
Since I have been back, Jacqui and I have hung out with each other every day. I hope she hasn't experienced a loss of friends because I keep hogging her time. I also hope that her husband isn't too bugged that I am there almost every waking hour of the day. I have gotten to see Brenny a few times, too. Maybe I need to go up to Greely and pester Brenda for a few days.
Jacqui and I have been working on projects. Again, things I am subjecting her, too. She has 2 sewing machines, so we have made turbie towels and speed cleaning aprons. I will post more about that later. We spent the day in her kitchen, she might do a post about it, so I won't steal her thunder.
I am REALLY looking forward to seeing Cory in a few weeks and spend a few days with her. What projects will we do?
Well, this is super long post. I will be better, I promise.
Lots of Love,
Robin
However, we (Jacqui, Dad and I) found a HUGE set of Discovery Toys Marbleworks. I had seen it on Friday, and the woman wanted $10 for it (total bargain). When I went with Jacqui and Pop, she still had it. Pop offered her $5 and she said, "YES" Total score. Adam and Amanda spent a good hour playing with the set today. It will be a good Grandparent toy.
