The Very Long Road Trip

On 6/17, Grammy, Brady, Anna Belle and I set forth on a very long road trip (over 3300 miles).  I plan to make daily posts during the trip, so Taylor can see pictures daily.  I've mentioned this trip, and people ask, "Where are you going?"  I give a vague answer and hear, "What's your final destination?"  I think the correct answer is "home."

We initially decided to take this trip to visit my Mammaw, Uncle Tim and Aunt Deb in Denver.  My mom and I had also discussed going to visit my cousin in Illinois who will have a new baby boy this summer.  Rather than two long road trips, we decided to link the two trips by way of Omaha.  We have planned LOTS of fun stuff, and the kids and I are already super excited about the adventure.

On day 1, we drive to Amarillo by way of Waco.  We did the same thing two years ago, where I made a post here.  We will ride horses at Kathy's house in Waco again, which both the kids are very excited about, and have dinner at the Big Texan in Amarillo.

On days 2 and 3, we will be in Colorado Springs.  Here's the post from our last visit.  We're not going to the zoo again, but we're staying at the Triple B Ranch again, the kids will have private riding lessons, and we'll visit the North Pole.  I tried talking to Anna Belle about this, and with her bravest face whilst tearing up she says, "I'm afraid of Santa Clause."  I guess she remembers this:

Days 4 - 6, we go to Denver.  We will do an afternoon and dinner at White Fence Farm again (I wish we had one in Houston).  We also plan to visit Estes Park.  Mostly we will hang out with our family and catch up while we can.

Days 7 - 8 will be in Omaha.  Not only is this a halfway point, we will get to see Phillip (yay!) and my friend Sarah.  Sarah and her sweet family went to our church for about a year and moved back home to Nebraska.  She has 2 boys close in age to Brady and Anna Belle.  We'll meet Sarah and family at Chuck-E-Cheese upon arrival.  I'm sure the kids will enjoy the opportunity to stretch their legs.  The following day, Phillip's going to give us a tour of Offutt Air Force Base.

Day 9, we go to Chicago to visit my Uncle Rick and Aunt Julie.  I'm eager to see their new house.

Days 10 - 11, we go to Bloomington, IL.  Rick and Julie's 3 kids, 2 in-laws and new grandson still live in Bloomington.  I haven't seen any of my cousins' new homes, since they've been grown ups.  I'm eager to see everyone and meet Papa's third great grandchild.

Day 12, we plan to stay in Little Rock over night.  I've considered staying in or stopping in Hot Springs; they have a nice Arboretum.  Hopefully Chick-fil-a's along the way will be enough to entertain the kids.

Days 13 - 14, we pick Taylor up from the DFW airport and head to Great Wolf Lodge, where we will meet up with the Bowers family.

Day 15, Grammy and I will "let" Taylor drive us home sweet home.

It's a lot of driving, but I'm really looking forward to every leg of our trip.