Day 19

Well, we spent last night in Kingsville, OH and this morning we got up and drove and drove and drove.  Now we are HOME!!!!  It was a long day, 632 miles and almost 10 hours of driving.  We are so happy to be home and so grateful for the opportunity to go on this trip, thanks for taking this adventure with us!

Day 18

We spent most of today in the Jeep driving, but before we got in the Jeep, Abi and Ethan had a chance to play at the campground.  Today we traveled through Illinois, Indiana, and into Ohio.  Nathan got to eat lunch at White Castle, which he had been wanting for a long time!  Who knows where today will end...

Day 17

Today we spent most of the day traveling, we only made short stops when we did.  Two and a half weeks on the road is a long time, Abi and Ethan are ready to be home and in their own beds!  We have seen and done so much, we almost have to look at this blog to see what exactly we have done!  We are excited to be headed home, but are looking forward to the next few days of getting there.  Today we saw the Precious Moments Chapel (not a huge hit with us!), the Totem Poll Trading Post, the World's Largest Rocking Chair, an interesting lawn mowing contraption, the Wagon Wheel Motel, and the highlight of the day Ted Drewes.  Ted Drewes is a frozen custard place on old Rt. 66 in St. Louis where they sell "Concretes," a milkshake so thick they serve it upside down to you and you eat it with a spoon.  Very yummy!  On our way out of St. Louis, we caught a quick glimpse of the Gateway Arch, it is very impressive.  We spent the night in Mulberry Grove, IL at a nice campground called Timber Trails.

Day 16

We left TX today in 90 degree temps, we think it's going to be a hot one.  We crossed into Oklahoma and decided to stop in Elk City where we found a Goodyear.  There Nathan had the tires from the camper switched on the rims.  After 5,000 miles our tires are really showing some wear!  While Nathan was doing the tires, Suzanne, Abi and Ethan went and checked out the Rt. 66 Museum.  We walked around the wild west town and then got a few things at Walmart.  Still in Elk City, we had lunch at a Mexican food place, after Nathan was through with the tires.  After lunch we hopped back on Rt. 40 and drove for a while.  Just before we came to Oklahoma City we saw a wild fire very close to the highway, scary stuff.  In Oklahoma City Rt. 66 changed from Rt. 40 to Rt. 44.  We hopped off 44 and onto 66 in Catoosa to see the Blue Whale, a big highlight for the day!  Up the road a bit we saw Totem Poll Park.  Then we tried to follow Rt. 66 into Kansas, but the roads were poorly marked, so we went into Missouri and then back tracked to Kansas!  We spent the night in Jopin, MO.

Day 15

This morning Nathan is a bit worried about the tires on the camper, they a wearing unevenly, and he would like to get to a Tractor Supply at some point.  First we went out in search for a church to go to.  We finally found one in Tucumcari, NM.  We heard a great sermon at First Assembly about the Beatitudes.  After church we made sandwiches in San Jon and ate them at a small community park.  It was so hot there, we felt like we were in a dryer.  As was passed into Texas, we stopped at the midway point of Rt. 66.  Then in Amarillo, TX we found a Tractor Supply, thanks to the Suitter's who found one for us on their GPS!  Nathan bought a spare tire, just in case.  Then we back tracked again and found Rt. 66 and Cadillac Ranch, where we made our mark and found where the Suitter's made theirs just a few days earlier!  Our next stop was in Groom, TX where we saw the Giant Cross, a 19 story cross weighing about 3 tons!  All around the cross were verses about Jesus and His death on the cross, it was a special time for our family.  We stopped for the night in Shamrock, TX and saw one of the places from "Cars!"

Day 14

So, the question of today is, "What time is it anyway?!"  Going through time zone and being in AZ where there is no Daylight Savings, we are so confused as to what time it actually is.  Today the first town we came to was Winslow, AZ where we saw the famous corner.  Then we were off the the Jack Rabbit Trading Post and the "Here It Is" build board.  Next we were in search of the Wigwam Motel and found it in Holbrook, AZ.  We crossed into New Mexico and stopped in Gallop, where we had lunch at a Sonic.  Our next stop was Albuquerque were we had to get the oil changed in the Jeep and pick up a few supplies.  Then we back tracked a bit to hit Rt. 66 through Albuquerque.  On Rt. 66 we had real Mexican food at Garcia's and drove the road looking at all the neon signs!  We stopped for the night in Clines Corner, NM.

Day 13

We woke up this morning ready to see the Grand Canyon, but first we made pancakes for breakfast.  Then we were off to do our Jr. Ranger program.  We chose to do the rim walk, it was interesting and we got to see a CA Condor, one of only 184 left in the wild!  We decided to leave the Grand Canyon after lunch (after we became Jr. Ranger's of course), it's beautiful to see but the park is not the nicest, after being at Yellowstone.  Abi and Ethan were ready to get to Rt. 66 so we headed South and jumped on Rt. 66 in Williams, AZ.  There we splurged and went to Rod's Steakhouse for dinner.  We also found our last license plate we had been in search for, Hawaii!  After dinner we walked Rt. 66 in Williams and then got on Rt. 40 and headed East for the first time in almost 2 weeks, we really are on our way home!  We jumped off Rt. 40 in Flagstaff, AZ and road 66 for a while to see some neon!  We spent the night at a nice campground in Meteor Creator, AZ.