10 States in 14 Days

We have finally returned from an incredible family vacation. I can't even explain in words how much fun we had, but I'll try.

First off, we only really had a 7 day notice we were going. Carlos & I had taken the kids to Rancho Seco to fish while the house dried after the pest control guy had been here. Bo leisurely lounged by our feet while we watched the kids cast over and over again. We decided right then and there that we would load up and head to PEAK, the WPF Youth Convention the following Thursday and see the country in which we so greatfully enjoy our freedom in.

We left on Thursday July 16th late in the afternoon after making several stops and even purchasing my birthday present, a Nikon D60 SLR camera. It was great to have the opportunity to take beautiful pictures all along the scenic highways. We arrived LATE into a small town north of Salt Lake City, Utah around 3 am. We had research ahead of time (very minimally) and found that we could park in the Camping World parking lot overnight in the RV free. We were really happy to stay there however, by the time we woke up the next day the store was already open and customers were coming in. No one seemed to even notice us.

Friday we had the opportunity to drive through Wyoming and the Northern Continental Divide. What a beautiful country we live in. The sky was clear and the gas prices were going down :D. We crossed into Colorado north of Denver and headed south on I-25 where we took Exit 138 in Colorado Springs. We were at our first stop, my beautiful niece Kelci, her husband Jon and the best nephews in the whole world, Kiernan and Lincoln. Unfortunately Kiernan had tried to stay up and wait for us but he had fallen asleep about 20 minutes earlier, but our sweet little nephew had waken up to spend some time with us. Bo had the opportunity to meet Cooper their large puppy. We stayed in their guest parking that night.

Saturday we headed back north with all the gang to Eilich Gardens Six Flag's Amusement Park in Denver where I had an opportunity to take lots of pictures of my family. It wasn't too hot out either. We checked in to our RV park, the most beautiful place on earth, that night. We stayed at the Air Force Academy FamCamp in the heart of the Rockies. And it was GORGEOUS.

Sunday Jon had to leave for training so Kelci was able to pick us up for Brunch. Not only was it a Sunday but it was my 39th birthday. My sweet Kiernan kept singing Happy Birthday to me at Cracker Barrel (which I absolutely loved). We had incredible thunder and lightning going on over Pike's Peak that I can't even describe. I finally got to go to Ft. Carson that day. If you don't already know, that is our first choice to be stationed at in the Army. And it definitely is a little piece of heaven up there.

Monday we had to unhook the RV because my niece had her daycare child with her but that was alright because we met her and the kids at Whit's End (yes as in Adventures in Odyssey). Kiernan is right at the age to really enjoy all the excitement of the place and he had so much fun. We got to take him back to the camp with us while the others went home to nap. Kelci rejoined us that afternoon and we had a barbeque outside. It was a lot of fun. The unfortunately part was Bo was getting sick from the altitude. At 7000 feet, we as humans get altitude illness but I forgot about the dog. We were sad to see them leave the campground that night but we knew it was only going to be a short visit. But we had great memories to take with us (and lots of pictures too).

Tuesday we were off through Colorado and into Kansas. As we drove East on I-70 I couldn't help but think that it looked very similar to the central California valley in spring. It was very pretty. And prices on gas were getting cheaper. We ended up stopping at a truck stop that night just north of the Oklahoma border. It wasn't a great sleep but it was free and in our own beds.

Wednesday I was up early and decided to be a kind soul and drive for Carlos. Needless to say up until that point all of the interstates had been incredibly smooth. Even some of the worst were better than some of California's best highways. However, all changed when we drove over the border into Oklahoma. I think my dirt road to my house is better than the highways in Oklahoma, yet they had no problem collecting my money at each of the tolls. I even lost a hubcap on one of the roads it was that bad. We did finally arrive in Tulsa in the afternoon and had to do two things before we could settle in to our hotel. First we had to take Bo to the Kennel where he would be boarded for the 4 days we were there and second we had to pick up our rental car so we could park the RV and take something a little smaller (and much cheaper on gas) around town. Wednesday evening started PEAK and what can I say, unless you were there. It was awesome. We were reunited with our new friends we met at the Apostolic Summit in April, the Anderson family from Michigan. We had already met their children but was glad our kids had a chance to also.

I spent most of Thursday morning sewing for Faith. I had only sewn 2 outfits before we had left and I had brought my sewing machine and fabric to Tulsa for that one purpose. I did manage to make Thursday nights outfit on Thursday so that I could go to church that night. The kids had gone with Carlos who was working the AST/Hope University booth with Dr. Baumeister. Hopefully they strummed up more business for school. Thursday night the kids had the opportunity to go out afterwards to Americas Incredible Pizza while we got to fellowship with the Baumeisters and Sis. Waage along with Baby Beaudrick. Of course we finally arrived back in our room around 1 am and I continued to sew while we "forced" the kids to go to bed. I noticed that my sweet but exhausted husband had fallen asleep to. Just as well, I was hard at work trying to finish my daughters outfit for Friday morning. Nothing like waiting to the last minute (as Carlos kept reminding me :D) I am not one who works best under pressure so it was a bit of a stress.
Needless to say at 5 am I crawled in to bed, only to wake at 9 to help Faith get ready and to fall back asleep until after noon. Once morning service was over, Carlos & the kids picked me up for lunch at Braum's with the Baumeisters, Waages and the Andersons. Because I was a good mommy, they even let me go to church service that night where again I was blessed. The kids had a lock in at the center and we again had a chance to fellowship with friends, also joining us was the Noland's who had finally shown up after preaching in Louisiana. What a great time of fellowship we had. We were sad to tell the Anderson's goodbye but we are really excited that they will be out to California in September. We are looking forward to it.

Saturday we were off. First to pick up my big baby Bo and then to drop the rental car off. Bo was so excited to see us and we had missed him as well. My dear teenager was sound asleep until 4 pm as any teen should have been after PEAK. We stopped in Oklahoma City for gas and it was BLAZING HOT! 103 outside but pleasant inside. The countryside of Oklahoma is a lot like the countryside of Texas. Very "plain". We made it all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico to another Camping World that I had already mapped out. Of course by then it was 1 am. We locked up and were out in nothing flat.

Sunday I felt the need to drive once again and drove on through New Mexico where I was amazed at the sites. The flat hills are incredibly beautiful and I was awed by how God simply paints the earth. I stopped at a rest area that was really cool with coverings over the picnic benches that looked like cut outs of the cave dwellings that NM is so famous for.
I even attempted to take pictures while I drove down the road but they were not exactly great since I couldn't quite focus. I pulled over and took a picture of the southern Continental Divide. Did you know if the rain that fall on the Rockies runs down the east side it will eventually end up in the Atlantic Ocean and if it fall down the west side it will eventually end up in the Pacific. At least that's what the sign said :D. After pulling off in Gallup, NM for a wonderful breakfast at Cracker Barrel again we were off to cross in to Arizona. However, 4 miles in we were plagued with a blowout on our tire. It was scary at first but I managed to get the RV off the road to a nice Navajo Indian Craft Store. Thank God for AAA. It did take almost 2 hours to get a mechanic there but once there it was a quick change. We put the flat in the cabin and were heading out when all of a sudden we spotted the Horton's and Richardson's who had pulled in to go shopping. Imagine that. With quick hello's and goodbye's we were on our way. We had reservations at a KOA south of the Grand Canyon and we wanted to make sure we go there at a decent time. We did pull in right around 6 pm and we had ample time to start a campfire and roast smore's for the night before heading in for some nice sleep. Humorous as it was, I had removed all our camping clothes before we left since I was expecting much warmer temperatures on the trip since we usually camp in spring and fall. However it did get chilly and we only had wood for a short small fire. Again, we are relatively happy to have an RV as it was nice inside.

On Monday morning we got up, unhooked and headed out....to find a spot we could stop and get wifi. We are so 21st century. Carlos still needed to post his grades for the last class he taught. After finally getting done, we headed 50 miles north to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Grand Canyon. Since none of us had ever been there we were absolutely amazed. It is GORGEOUS. We took the bus up to Hermits Rest where we were able to stop along the route and view the most majestic scenes imaginable. Only God can could have created that much beauty. We were only there for 4 hours but it was the most beautiful peaceful time ever. Even the kids found the beauty unreal. Caleb said he thought it was gonna be another dumb sightseeing trip and he was actually very impressed. We were even greeted by Mule Elk that decided it was their land and they were not going to move out of the way.
It was a beautiful time in a beautiful setting. Our next destination was the lights and sounds of LAS VEGAS.

We headed out and headed North to the dry desert HEAT. We had reservations at the Circus Circus KOA campground. As we drove the strip at 1 am the town was still full of life. The campground was...asphalt. We did have full hookups however when it's 114 outside it's hot in the RV. The poor air conditioner worked as hard as it could and kept it down to 98 inside. We had brought along a small fan so we kept that running to keep the air circulating. As we ate at a buffet and played at the Adventuredome where there is an inside roller coaster and water ride poor Bo was in the RV trying to keep cool. However, he enjoyed it better than the hot asphalt on his pads so he preferred to stay inside. He did get to meet other dogs at the pet camp. In the night we did get down to about 90 outside which meant it did get down to 80 inside the RV. We'd take it as it was still HOT outside.

We stayed in Las Vegas until Wednesday AM. The kids had a blast playing the games and just relaxing. But we had to get going. First stop was Big O tires to get that stupid tire replaced. Then we had the opportunity to go to Nellis AFB and see the F-16's flying over head. I still am totally fascinated with fighter aircraft and just hearing them roar overhead is exciting. Then it was a fill up and we headed WEST towards California in the heat of the day. I'm not sure if it ever cooled off that night. Our first place of eating in California was the same place we eat every time we come home, In'n'Out Burger in Fresno. Shortly after that, Carlos found a truck stop to pull into.

At 6 am Thursday morning I felt the RV pull away from the curb and head home. While I attempted to stay asleep the drive home, it was bumpy. Nevertheless, by 8:30 am we had pulled in to our parking place in Wilton. We were home. Our wonderful vacation had come to an end. I have over 700 pictures that I have taken but I promise I will only put a handful on here. In 14 days we have had time to relax, enjoy one another and get to know each of us better. Carlos has learned more about his kids in 2 weeks than he knew before. Not because he wasn't interested but simply because his time with us was limited. And we have had an incredible time reconnecting with Carlos. He's still our hero and we are so thankful that he is the kind of hardworking, dedicated man he is. We are all thankful that God has made a way for us to spend time as a family, forgetting the cares of the world and simply going back to a time when it was slower, at least for a short while.