The Ultimate All-American Road Trip Begins!

We did it! We are on our way! From sea to shining sea and back, we decided this was the summer to take the ultimate road trip!

This is something we have wanted to do for a long time - drive all the way across this great land of ours and see Washington DC, New York City, and all the church history sights. We decided that this was the perfect year for such an adventure, since Luke is now 5 and requires no stroller or anything and is old enough to really enjoy himself, and Alex is 15 and it will only be a few more years before he is gone, and then Nate and the twins right after! Really, the time that you have with all your kids is so short - there are only a limited number of summer vacations you get to all take together, so it is our philosophy to make them good and do the trips you dream about doing when there is still time.

That's why a whole year ago we bit the bullet and rented this monster RV. My boys are pretty good travelers, but the bigger they get, the smaller our Suburban gets, and since we were driving all the way across country, it had to be in an RV!

And this thing is quite the machine! Dennis went to pick it up from Orange County on Thursday morning. We hoped he'd hurry home with it and we'd have it packed up and be on the road by noon. We should have known better. Picking it up was a lot more complicated that picking up the keys and by the time he got home with it, it was late afternoon. Just turning it around in our cul-de-sac was a challenge. The boys were SO excited to see him pull up with that giant 38 footer in front of our house!

Though we had been all packed and ready, it still took us a long time to pack up the RV and get going. By the time we finally hit the road it was nearly 8pm - and we still had to drive to Flagstaff! Dennis booked it and drove until the early morning. We didn't quite make it to Flagstaff, though, and spent the night (what was left of it anyway) at a truck stop somewhere.

Meanwhile the boys had a good time exploring the RV. It is quite a marvel of engineering! It is amazing how much room we have! It sleeps everyone. We have our own room, there are bunk beds and the sofas and table all turn into beds. There is a bathroom and a shower, 3 TVs, including a big flat screen, a stove, micro & oven, and even a washer/dryer. And tons of storage! We even had room to bring all of our bikes (including mine!) This RV is pretty darn cool! But it is also rather complicated, and though we are into day 5, we are still figuring out all the knobs and switches. No worries. We'll be pros by the time the month is up.

The best thing about traveling in it, is that when there is more elbow room, everybody seems to get along much better. There has hardly been any fighting on this trip and nobody ever has to whine "He's touching me!" For that reason alone, this RV is worth its weight in gold! And it is fun to have my parents with us, and to watch my kids interact with them so much. We are all going to be stuck together for nearly a month, so we all better get along real good, right?

The boys had a great time running around at the rest stops.

On Saturday morning early, as soon as Dennis was rested enough, we hit the road again. We had a full day of driving ahead and some catching up to do, so we didn't have a lot of time to stop and see much. The way we planned this trip was to book it through the West because we have seen it before or can another time, and then slow down a bit and see more once we got across the Mississippi. So for the first 3 days all we did, pretty much is drive.

But we still got to see a few fun things.

The I-40 travels along much of the same route as the historic Route 66, so we decided to pull off the freeway and drive it a bit through the tiny town of Holbrook, AZ. The folks at Pixar used Holbrook as the inspiration for Radiator Springs in Cars, so it is fun to drive down the main drag and try to recognize parts of the movie. It even has the same red rock formations surrounding it. Of course, the most recognizable landmark in the town is the Wigwam Motel.

It is so kitchy and fun! Definitely worth a stop!

And what a great place to take some fun pictures! There was even a young couple there who were on there honeymoon. They had just spent a night in a wigwam, and wanted me to take their picture in front of their tee pee, him holding her over the threshold, of course, before they jumped in their car and hit the road.

Classic!

Not only are the rooms all tee pees, but they have a bunch of old vintage cars parked out in front of the tee pees! The boys had a ball running around in the desert heat looking for all their favorite Cars characters.

They found Mater!

This is why road tripping is fun! This is what memories are made of!

It was a short stop, but a super fun way to start the trip. Classic road-tripping at its best!

Quite a view from the gigantic windshield!

We drove all day and made it to Albuqurque by dinnertime. My Dad suggested a crazy fun place called Range Cafe. It is a nutzy local spot, just the kind of place you need to visit on a road trip through town. Obama ate here apparently. The place is funky, decorated all over with cows and vintage toy stoves (thus, the Range Cafe). Notice the flying cows over Mom and Nate.

The place was funky, but the food was fab! It was classic diner fare with a southwest twist. I had the spiced up mac n' cheese with white cheddar and green chilies. It was plenty spicy - just the way I like it!

Dinner was great, but we discovered that the truly amazing food at the Range Cafe was the desserts. We could not pass by the pastry display without taking a second look - and then ordering something. Everything was huge and yummy looking. We finally chose a pie for the road, and Dennis snuck a giant cannoli into the order that they two of us secretly shared together. It was absolutely amazing, amazing!

On the road, when we could stand it no longer we pulled out the pie! The one we had settled on was the chocolate banana cream pie with a chocolate dipped crust! Yes, I know, absolutely indulgent! Oh and it was! It was so, so good.

So we drove into the night with good company and happy mouths! A good start to a great trip!