Our first all-American family (of 5 + Gus) road trip

After a few wonderful weeks in Camp Nebraska, it was time to go. We planned this trip so that the drive home would be our first FAMILY ROAD TRIP. I'm not sure if it's a dad thing or not, but Scott seemed to think that the All-American family road trip is a rite of passage. We all did it when we were kids so now we need to recreate it for our kids?!? Either way, I was up for the adventure.

So the night before we left, we got a little wisdom from the road trip masters.  After all, Grandpa Huxter and Grandma Becky have made this drive more times than anyone else we know. Thankfully Eloise was around to give her input while planning our route.

The obligatory photo in the driveway before you leave. This photo op always makes me laugh, but as it turns out, this time I am so glad we stopped to take the photo. It's probably one of my favorite photos from the trip. The smiles are real and happy but yet no one wanted to leave. It's always hard to say goodbye... especially when you know you have 1,200 miles to drive over the next 2 days with 3 kids and a dog in a confined space.

And we're off... photo taken 5 minutes after getting onto I-80 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

About 2 hours in... the middle seat was full of peace and quiet.

Mainstreet USA: somewhere in middle America (along Highway 56).

At nearly the end of day 1: an unassuming dinner jackpot in Dalhart, Texas. Well, considering all our previous pit stops had been at McDonald's. But either way, the people were friendly, the food was greasy but amazing and the place was packed. They don't have a website (not surprising) but they do have a Facebook page. Check em out... https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Grill/120955117918833
 

Just outside Dalhart, we encountered some of the largest feedlots either one of us had ever seen. With a little help from the ol internet, I was able to determine that one held approx 70,000 cattle and the other 75,000. Sadly though, it doesn't look as impressive on Google Earth as it does in real life. 

About 30 minutes after we left Dalhart, Natalie decided it was time to take her first nap of the day. Guess the grilled cheese and lemonade really knocked her out. Meanwhile, we parents know that this nap will most certainly cause massive amounts of chaos once we reach the hotel. But we decide to enjoy the 30-45 minutes of silence and deal with the post-nap crazed beast later.

We stayed the night at the dog-friendly Best Western in Tucumcari, America's Truck Stop. Neither of us had never traveled with a dog before and I must say, the dog-friendly rooms are just as nice as the regular rooms. I was expecting it to be covered in dog/cat fur and smell like the inside of PetSmart. But no, the only difference is it had tile floors. Good to know.  Local time... 9:30 pm but the kids (who haven't moved much in the past 12 hours) internal clocks are saying 10:30 pm. This should be an interesting night...

There's only so much sleeping you can do in a room with 5 people and a dog. So, after two of the kids were up at 6:30am, we packed up, helped ourselves to the continental breakfast and hit the road... early.

Someone past Albuquerque, there was a giant X in the sky. I told Natalie that our house was underneath the X and that was how we knew which way to go. I know she didn't beleive me, but she was quietly thinking about it for about 5 minutes. Which means she was quiet for about 5 minutes. Which means that my little story was worth it.

19 hours and 1,246 miles later, we all arrived back to our home-sweet-home in the blast furnace. The temperature outside was about a million degrees but we were all happy to be home and able to sleep in our own beds. But mostly, I think we were all very excited to get out of the car.

After getting all unpacked, the next order of business was stocking the beer fridge with all the beers we collected from our travels.   A successful vacation indeed.