Delaware to Maryland to Pennsylvania to West Virginia to Ohio to Indiana to Illinois to Missouri to Kansas to Colorado… Whew, That’s a lot of states in just three days!!! 10 to be exact. I have driven across this wonderful country once to LA with my sister (that was FUN) and once to work as a travel nurse in Denver. Both times I was in complete awe at watching the landscape change outside my car window as we drove. I have to say it is ten times better to watch the joy your loved ones get as they see it for the first time. My kids spend a while just snapping picture after picture out the window and calling out the sights as we drove. Greg has driven as far west as Topeka, Kansas and when he came upon the Red Rocks of Colorado his smile couldn’t get any bigger.
Yesterday we drove from Casey, Illinois to St. Louis, Mo past the arch and to visit Gregs aunt Janice. She is a sweet 69-year old with disabilities that lives in an assisted living home. She is obsessed, and that’s probably an understatement, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Her whole room is decorated in Cardinal gear and she was so delighted to see our kids again. Taking pictures with our kids and asking for hugs from our Addy girl was the best. Gregs other aunt, Linda, joined and we got to go to brunch with her and catch up. She hasn’t seen our kiddos in 9 years and got to meet Mags for the first time! She really got to see their personalities which is always a win.
We left St. Louis and headed for Topeka, Ks where we drove into a concrete wasteland called an RV park. We encountered bright white concrete covering everything as far as the eye can see and over 200 RV’s but not a single soul. Completely desolate. As usual our kids tore out of the RV to get to the pool but this time they ripped out their scooters and scooted there. They spent half the evening just scooting around and loved it. I spent half the night confused on what time it was. The sun seemed like it was never going to go down and I still wasn’t used to the time change. We actually ate dinner at 9pm in broad daylight!!!
Mental health and sanity couldn’t be more important on this trip so I woke up at 615 this morning, pulled out my yoga mat and dumbbells and got to work. It felt amazing, especially when my mini me came out in her sneakers and a beach towel to work out next to me.
We rolled through the hills and then prairies of Kansas to arrive in Colorado Springs, Co this afternoon. Its beautiful! Pikes Peak was a gorgeous welcome to us off of the road and the kids were plastered to the windows as we arrived. We took a scenic tour to Manitou Cave Dwellings where the Pueblo Indians built these amazing houses into the caves. The red rocks were gorgeous and Addy loved every single factoid about Indians and the history. She brought her polaroid camera and took many shots. She can’t wait to get home and show my mom, also a Native American history buff.
We arrived at our next campground to surprise the kids with a waterpark. The temperature has really dropped so they didn’t last too long but it was awesome considering they have never been to the waterslides before. Lots of firsts for us on this trip.
Tomorrow we get to spend an extra day in one place!!!!! We are thinking zoo, Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls, who knows. All I know is that we are certainly giving one another Grace and enjoying the new pace of Summer.