Road trip home

We made it! We rolled in around 2am Saturday night after our little 2300 mile jaunt across the country.

All I can say is there is no place like home! It feels so good to be in familiar surroundings. I knew I missed home, but I didn't realize how much until we walked in the door. I'm excited to see our friends and family again and I'm loving the absence of humidity. Also, no more waiting until 10pm to eat dinner-- hooray! Our waistlines will probably thank us for that. Sean got home around 4:30pm yesterday and it was such a nice change to have him home in the evening.

A lot of people have asked me what our road trips across the country are like, so this year I kept a little travel log-- it's just thrilling, believe me. You will see that you really don't want to be in on this action. It was fun MAYBE the first time-- sort of loses its luster by the 5th or 6th time around! It wasn't all bad though... it was really nice to have some time to just chill with Sean for two days straight.

Friday, August 15

8:30 am: Fill up with gas at Wawa (best gas station EVER) for $3.79/gallon hit up McDonalds for an egg mcmuffin and hit the road.

10:30 am: Pass through gorgeous PA countryside and learn that Pennsylvania does indeed have mountains.

11:00 am: Went through a long mountain tunnel where Sean proceeded to honk the horn and scare other drivers (continued to do this in every other tunnel we passed through).

12:06 pm: Laughing at idiot driver who cut us off and is tailgating a semi.

12:30 pm: Notice some of the leaves on the trees are already changing colors right outside Pittsburgh.

12:44 pm: Paid $17 toll. Ugh.

1:00 pm: Stop in a little town called Beaver and fill up for $3.79/gallon. Stopped at Subway for lunch and when we went to leave our car wouldn't shift out of park-- finally got it to work and vowed to leave it in neutral for the rest of the trip.

1:50 pm: Peace out Pennsylvania and hello Ohio!

2:14 pm: Pass giant GM plant where they build Pontiac G5's.

3:25 pm: Hear fuzzy recording on radio of song called "Wild Horses" and for some reason Sean becomes obsessed with it (he sang the chorus to the dang song about 500 times by the time we made it home).

5:00 pm: Sean snoozing in the passenger seat with his mouth wide open and Jenny is behind the wheel.

5:20 pm: Adios Ohio, Hola Indiana! Paid $10.25 toll.

6:48 pm: Stupid trucker almost runs us off the road.

6:56 pm: Seriously bored; Singing Funky Town.

7:28 pm: Paid $6.75 at toll.

6:47 pm: Goodbye Indiana, hello Illinois and central time! (Sorry, bad picture. The sun was blinding!)

8:30 pm: Make slight detour to Naperville, IL for some Lou Malnatis deep-dish pizza. We've been craving this pizza since the last time we ate it (three years ago). Yes, it really is that good.



11:00 pm: Stop for the night at the Hampton Inn in Quad Cities (border of Illinois and Iowa). Catch up on the Olympics and hit the sack. Bed feels like heaven after being cramped in the car all day.


Saturday, August 16

8:25 am: On the road again after hitting up hotel breakfast.


8:38 am: Crossed the mighty Mississippi River and enter Iowa.




8:49 am: Pass the "World's Largest Truck Stop" and the Herbert Hoover Museum. Simply exhilirating.


9:40 am: Listening to local coverage of the Iowa state fair on A.M. radio because we are already that bored. Fill up for $3.64/gallon in a place called Williamsburg.


11:01 am: Saw gas for $3.42 in Des Moines! Tired of looking at corn fields.


11:49 am: Played an intense ABC sign game. Jenny was victorious after Sean got stuck on Q. Decided Iowa isn't the best place to play this game since the signs are few and far between!

11:59 am: Welcome to Nebraska... and traffic.



2:30 pm: Stop at Wendy's for lunch in York. Filled up for $3.65/gallon.


3:00 pm: Passed through giant arch thing that is in the middle of nowhere. Still tired of looking at corn fields.



5:00 pm: Passed giant sunflower farms-- very cool. Couldn't snap a picture since I was driving and Sean was asleep!

6:35 pm: Howdy Wyoming!

7:20 pm: Stop for gas in Cheyenne for $3.63/gallon. It is freezing outside! Sean tries changing a fuse to see if it will fix our problem of the car not wanting to come out of park. Also realize our brake lights are not working-- fabulous.

9:15 pm: Go through KFC drive through. Sean puts car in park accidentally and we are stuck. Finally gets it to come out of park and we pull up to window to pay. Sean puts car in park again-- doh!

12:02 am: See ya Wyoming, hello Utah! No state sign picture because at this point I was slipping in and out of conciousness.

2:01 am: Pull in to our garage. Home sweet home!