First, here's the timeline of our trip to Missouri:
- Friday, March 10th, 4am--we said goodbye to Jeff and started driving east in the dark.
- Friday night, March 10th--we stayed at a hotel in Fort Collins, Colorado after 16 hours on the road.
- Saturday, March 11th, 7am--hit the road again--12 hours to go!
- Saturday night, March 11th--we arrived at the Broadbent house around 10pm.
- Tuesday, March 21st--our sister-in-law, Dani, arrived with little 18 month old Derek, bringing our total kids up to 8.
- What we did before Dani and Derek arrived: Phoenix Park, Lions Lake Park, Klondike Park, Shaw Nature Reserve, haircuts for the boys, Wildwood Community Park, and church.
- What we did after Dani and Derek arrived: at least two trips to Target, Paradise frozen custard, Purina Farms, the St. Louis Arch, Lions Lake Park again, sister movie night without kids (Beauty and the Beast was spectacular!), and of course, church.
- Mixed in between all of our outings and adventures was a whole lot of pleasant hanging out at home while the kids played. The sisters talked, watched shows/chick flicks, and made treats while the kids played Minecraft, built with Legos, romped around the big yard, and played their hearts out.
- Tuesday, March 28th, 4:30am--we started our drive home. First leg: 14 hours.
- Tuesday night, March 28th, 6:30pm--we arrived at our hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota.
- Wednesday, March 29th, 7am--we drove the 40 minutes from Rapid City to Mt. Rushmore and walked around admiring the views there for 90 minutes before continuing along our way.
- Wednesday night, March 29th--we stopped at a hotel just outside of Bozeman, Montana for the night. Second leg: 8 hours
- Thursday, March 30th, 7am--we left our hotel and drove the final 8-ish hours home!
- Friday, March 31st, all day--SORE legs and booty from all that driving.
THERE: driving east from WA to MO
Locked and loaded
DAY 1
To change things up, we took a different route east than we have the past two times we've made the drive from WA to MO. Previously, we stuck with the I-80 route the whole way, which takes us down through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, across Wyoming and Nebraska, and then south skirting Iowa to reach Missouri. That is the most direct route, and it has the benefit of being populated by friends and family--a much friendlier route to compliment its relative shortness. On our eastward drive this year, however, we took the second most direct route, which is the same all the way to Laramie, Wyoming. At Laramie, however, we swooped south on narrow minor Highway 287 and I-25 to snag good ole faithful I-70 at Denver.
The night before we left, Jay set an alarm to wake himself up by 3:30am. He was the first one up. When Jeff walked down the hall, Jay ran up the stairs and said "did I surprise you?" Jay was the MOST excited to go see his cousin buddies. It was so cute.
Cheetos for breakfast. Gag. But Cheetos were the #1 favorite road trip snack this time. For long road trips, I try and get a bunch of snacks that we don't normally have, like Cheetos and Go-Gurt. (double gag--the smell and the mess make me shudder). I think it makes the trip more fun/special for the kids?
At a rest stop about four hours into the drive on day one--spirits were still high and we were all feeling perky in spite of our early start.
Approaching Utah--hello, Rockies!
Gas station! On a road trip a few years ago, I started the tradition of making funny faces and playing peek-a-boo with the kids in the car at gas stations. Anything to make it fun! One thing I love about my kids is how willing they are to smile and laugh at something small and silly, like my nose smooshed on the van window like a pig snout. I took a picture of Amber's happy reflection.
Leaving Utah...I love those red cliffs!
We stopped in Fort Collins for the night after a grueling 16 hour day. About 45 minutes from the Days Inn I had reserved, Amber got carsick on that curvy Highway 287. She cried and cried and then barfed up a large carseat full of the various snacks she had recently eaten. It was foul, and the problem with 287 was the lack of exits or shoulder. It was pitch dark by this time, and without any turnoffs or shoulder space, all I could do was breathe through my mouth and keep driving. Amber cried loudly, covered in her own vomit, still carsick. Low point!
We were all feeling a little bit green around the gills when 15 minutes post-puke, I finally spotted some sort of bikers' bar with a parking lot full of pickup trucks and motorcycles. Music and laughter were coming from an open window on the second floor, and a motorcycle roared loudly and peeled out of the parking lot. Ignoring the dark atmosphere, I pulled over to clean poor Amber up. I threw away all of the clothes she was wearing and used about 20 wipes to mop her and the carseat up. Blessing the "barf kit" (bag of cleaning supplies) we've kept in the car ever since our first barfy kid roadrip, and making a mental note to add latex gloves to the bag when I got home, I Clorox-wiped down the entire carseat and scrubbed my hands with another Clorox wipe for good measure. It was absolutely disgusting, and I was shaky from the cold and the strain of the long drive (not to mention the unsavory establishment we were parked near). My hands about shriveled up from being scrubbed with straight Clorox, but that was preferable to the alternative! Amber was sobbing the entire time I was cleaning. I hoped that nobody would come out of the bar and investigate the source of the desperate crying. Jay, Rose, and I all had very full bladders, but there was no way I was going into that bar with three travelworn kids to ask for a bathroom! We held it and kept driving the last 30 minutes into Fort Collins to our safe, comfy Days Inn. I collapsed into a bed with the kids and we called Jeff to tell him all about it.
Amber did not collapse into bed. After I bathed the last of the barf off of her, she pinged around the room like a little bouncy ball. Within five minutes of exploration, she had turned on the microwave, called the front desk, flipped the lights on and off, and cranked the air fan. It took her forever to settle down enough to sleep!
At last Amber snuggled up to me and squirmed her way to sleep. She fell asleep but didn't stop squirming, so I moved her to the floor.
In the morning, Amber was sleeping with her head under the hotel bed. Eeeew! I took a picture, then quickly moved her back to safety.
Hotel breakfast
DAY 2
The next morning, things were much brighter and better. It was all of our first time in Colorado (outside of the airport), and it felt fresh and new. Cranking up some John Denver (it seemed appropriate), we drove south to Denver and then followed I-70 through Kansas and a slightly alarming ice storm, all the way to our exit outside of St. Louis. I liked driving through Kansas better than Nebraska; the terrain is slightly more varied and interesting. The wintry mix that pelted us for an hour in Kansas froze our gas cap shut and messed up our windshield wipers. I kicked the ice off of everything as best I could and we kept driving. It felt wonderful to arrive at my sister's new house at long last that Saturday night.
The next morning, things were much brighter and better. It was all of our first time in Colorado (outside of the airport), and it felt fresh and new. Cranking up some John Denver (it seemed appropriate), we drove south to Denver and then followed I-70 through Kansas and a slightly alarming ice storm, all the way to our exit outside of St. Louis. I liked driving through Kansas better than Nebraska; the terrain is slightly more varied and interesting. The wintry mix that pelted us for an hour in Kansas froze our gas cap shut and messed up our windshield wipers. I kicked the ice off of everything as best I could and we kept driving. It felt wonderful to arrive at my sister's new house at long last that Saturday night.
Cheetos for breakfast again on day two!
Artists in the middle row, Jay lounging in the back, devouring the giant History of the World book I got him for the trip. He may know more about world history than I do now.
On day one, Amber only slept for ONE HOUR of the 17 hours we were awake. Thankfully she couldn't pull that stunt two days back to back, and slept for 3 hours on day two.
What did the kids do in the car? They read books (Jay), drew pictures (Rose and Amber), ate snacks, and watched movies. What did I do? I listened to their movies (they watched 3-4 movies per day), handed things to Amber, turned on music between movies when I felt like it, and voice-to-texted memos into my phone. I have read the things I "wrote" using the voice-to-text feature on my phone, and even though it all amused me greatly while I was driving, reading it later I saw that in fact it was all pretty patchy and poorly punctuated. I write best with my hands, not my voice. It's funny to read, but hard to understand. But hey, it got me through 28 hours on the road! We had two full weeks ahead of us to BE and BUILD friendships with our fun family. The huge drive was a small price to pay for the good times!
BACK AGAIN: the journey home
The further I drive away from home on these long trips, the more I get the feeling that I am digging myself into a deep pit--once I was THERE, I had no choice but to make the long drive BACK AGAIN. Before leaving home, there was an out: I could always change my mind and not make the long drive. But once we were 2,000 miles away from home in Missouri, The Drive was inevitable. For the most part I did an excellent job blocking the drive from my mind and didn't let it hang over me while I was a-visiting. But a few days before go-time, it definitely started looming. I decided to take the drive home in three days instead of two, to make it easier on everyone and so we could do a little bit of sight seeing along the way.
So I got onto Google maps, checked the weather, and traced our homeward route. This time we went up to I-90 through South Dakota and Montana. The total drive time was listed at 30 hours--2 hours longer than I-70 and I-80 routes, but I figured if I'm going to be driving across this giant country of ours multiple times, I may as well get to know more of it than the same ole interstate corridor! Mt. Rushmore is just shy of halfway home along that route. I reserved a hotel in Rapid City, and we drove there in 14 hours on day one.
DAY 1
The kids were exhausted from two straight weeks of playing nonstop, and the girls both fell asleep late in the afternoon on day one. At our last gas stop before Rapid City, Amber and Rose woke up and started crying in that tired, half asleep, stubborn way. They screamed and cried all the way into the gas station, prompting the guy at the register to ask me "what's wrong?" I gave him an exhausted look and said "everything" while I dragged my thrashing daughters to the bathroom. We got some chocolate milk for dinner and soothed the cranks.
The last three hours we drove through torrential downpours and had a brief brush with hydroplaning. I reigned it in and we arrived safe and sound at the AmericInn Rapid City. I picked this budget-friendly hotel for its swimming pool, and it was exactly what the kids needed after a long day on the road. We donned our swimsuits for the first time all year and swam/splashed/slid for well over an hour. Stairs led up to a one story curvy slide that went outside the hotel and looped back in to finish by the pool. Jay and Rose were too scared to go down the slide at first, but after a few minutes Jay went down, followed by Rose. Jay said "I gathered my courage!" I spent my remaining energy keeping Amber from drowning. Next time I need to pack a life vest for her!
DAY 2
The next morning, March 29th--day two on the road home--we ate breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and drove 40 minutes to Mt. Rushmore. That is a separate post in itself, but the kids were very excited to see the four famous faces carved into the cliff. Back on the road, we continued on our westward way. I did not have a hotel reserved for that evening, which turned out to be a good move. I planned to drive as long as we could, then stop for the night. My goal was Butte, Montana, but just outside of Bozeman, Amber got carsick again and up came her McDonald's. All over that crusty carseat again. We had just passed the last Bozeman exit so we drove for a few miles before finding a town called Belgrade, Montana to do barf-cleanup duty. The gas station I pulled into happened to have a Holiday Inn Express next door, and after scooping up the worst of the chunks, I called it a day and we walked in all windblown and travelworn to request a room for the night. It was about 6pm.
Holiday Inn Express is one of my favorite hotels, but we don't usually budget that high for hotels and end up staying in junkier, less comfy places. This one was 100% worth the $40 over my budget. The room was nice and clean and cozy. There was a pool and hot tub and amazingly kind customer service. Seriously, I about hugged the guy at the reception desk when he welcomed us and gave us our room key. Traveling alone with kids is exhausting, and it was nice to stay at a friendly place when I was feeling so maxed out and drained. I was not in the mood for playing lifeguard, but the kids needed to swim, so we pulled on our still-slightly-damp suits and enjoyed a quiet evening swim with the pool to ourselves.
I did not even get into the pool this time because I was too tired and cranky, so I sat on the edge holding whatever part of Amber was closest--the strap of her suit, her wrist, her ankle--to keep her alive. Every few minutes, Amber and I rotated between the hot tub and the pool. I selfishly wished that kids could stay in hot tubs longer, because hot tubs were made for road trip body aches, and I wanted a nice long soak! Amber ran out of steam after only 20 minutes or so in the water, and she willingly retired to a plush poolside chair with me and a couple of towels. I guess puking up your dinner doesn't leave much strength left for long swims. I counted that puke as a sideways tender mercy, because I just wanted to rest after a long day on the road, and I was able to lounge while Jay and Rose played. They were playing at a frenzied level of overtired near-hysteria, and when we got back to our room, they laid on the bed in a complete daze, watching the Disney Channel until Amber finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.
DAY 3
The next day we drove 8 hours through the rest of gorgeously scenic Montana with its various mountain passes, across the northern tip of Idaho, and down through Washington to our house. We got home right around 3pm and hugged a heavily bearded Jeff over and over and over. Homecomings are SWEET, even when scratchy beards are involved.
BACK AGAIN: the journey home
The further I drive away from home on these long trips, the more I get the feeling that I am digging myself into a deep pit--once I was THERE, I had no choice but to make the long drive BACK AGAIN. Before leaving home, there was an out: I could always change my mind and not make the long drive. But once we were 2,000 miles away from home in Missouri, The Drive was inevitable. For the most part I did an excellent job blocking the drive from my mind and didn't let it hang over me while I was a-visiting. But a few days before go-time, it definitely started looming. I decided to take the drive home in three days instead of two, to make it easier on everyone and so we could do a little bit of sight seeing along the way.
So I got onto Google maps, checked the weather, and traced our homeward route. This time we went up to I-90 through South Dakota and Montana. The total drive time was listed at 30 hours--2 hours longer than I-70 and I-80 routes, but I figured if I'm going to be driving across this giant country of ours multiple times, I may as well get to know more of it than the same ole interstate corridor! Mt. Rushmore is just shy of halfway home along that route. I reserved a hotel in Rapid City, and we drove there in 14 hours on day one.
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| Gathering our laundry and packing it into the right place for the return journey was tricky. I packed a separate hotel bag so I only had one thing to carry in to the hotels--less bags means more hands to herd children. It's preparation in the details that makes solo cross country travel with three kids work. |
The kids were exhausted from two straight weeks of playing nonstop, and the girls both fell asleep late in the afternoon on day one. At our last gas stop before Rapid City, Amber and Rose woke up and started crying in that tired, half asleep, stubborn way. They screamed and cried all the way into the gas station, prompting the guy at the register to ask me "what's wrong?" I gave him an exhausted look and said "everything" while I dragged my thrashing daughters to the bathroom. We got some chocolate milk for dinner and soothed the cranks.
 |
| Sleeping girls right before the gas station meltdown. |
The last three hours we drove through torrential downpours and had a brief brush with hydroplaning. I reigned it in and we arrived safe and sound at the AmericInn Rapid City. I picked this budget-friendly hotel for its swimming pool, and it was exactly what the kids needed after a long day on the road. We donned our swimsuits for the first time all year and swam/splashed/slid for well over an hour. Stairs led up to a one story curvy slide that went outside the hotel and looped back in to finish by the pool. Jay and Rose were too scared to go down the slide at first, but after a few minutes Jay went down, followed by Rose. Jay said "I gathered my courage!" I spent my remaining energy keeping Amber from drowning. Next time I need to pack a life vest for her!
Amber loved standing in the hotel shower.
Play hard, sleep hard
In front of the AmericInn, with the exterior water slide in the background. I said "let me take a quick picture of you guys!" And this is what happened.
DAY 2
The next morning, March 29th--day two on the road home--we ate breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and drove 40 minutes to Mt. Rushmore. That is a separate post in itself, but the kids were very excited to see the four famous faces carved into the cliff. Back on the road, we continued on our westward way. I did not have a hotel reserved for that evening, which turned out to be a good move. I planned to drive as long as we could, then stop for the night. My goal was Butte, Montana, but just outside of Bozeman, Amber got carsick again and up came her McDonald's. All over that crusty carseat again. We had just passed the last Bozeman exit so we drove for a few miles before finding a town called Belgrade, Montana to do barf-cleanup duty. The gas station I pulled into happened to have a Holiday Inn Express next door, and after scooping up the worst of the chunks, I called it a day and we walked in all windblown and travelworn to request a room for the night. It was about 6pm.
Mount Rushmore selfie! [more pictures later]
Holiday Inn Express is one of my favorite hotels, but we don't usually budget that high for hotels and end up staying in junkier, less comfy places. This one was 100% worth the $40 over my budget. The room was nice and clean and cozy. There was a pool and hot tub and amazingly kind customer service. Seriously, I about hugged the guy at the reception desk when he welcomed us and gave us our room key. Traveling alone with kids is exhausting, and it was nice to stay at a friendly place when I was feeling so maxed out and drained. I was not in the mood for playing lifeguard, but the kids needed to swim, so we pulled on our still-slightly-damp suits and enjoyed a quiet evening swim with the pool to ourselves.
I did not even get into the pool this time because I was too tired and cranky, so I sat on the edge holding whatever part of Amber was closest--the strap of her suit, her wrist, her ankle--to keep her alive. Every few minutes, Amber and I rotated between the hot tub and the pool. I selfishly wished that kids could stay in hot tubs longer, because hot tubs were made for road trip body aches, and I wanted a nice long soak! Amber ran out of steam after only 20 minutes or so in the water, and she willingly retired to a plush poolside chair with me and a couple of towels. I guess puking up your dinner doesn't leave much strength left for long swims. I counted that puke as a sideways tender mercy, because I just wanted to rest after a long day on the road, and I was able to lounge while Jay and Rose played. They were playing at a frenzied level of overtired near-hysteria, and when we got back to our room, they laid on the bed in a complete daze, watching the Disney Channel until Amber finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.
SassyAmber had a tender moment when we were snuggled up watching Jay and Rose swim. She was babbling away and kept pausing to give me soft little kisses. Love.
Zoning out with TV in bed--true opulent hotel life right there.
DAY 3
The next day we drove 8 hours through the rest of gorgeously scenic Montana with its various mountain passes, across the northern tip of Idaho, and down through Washington to our house. We got home right around 3pm and hugged a heavily bearded Jeff over and over and over. Homecomings are SWEET, even when scratchy beards are involved.
My command center in the passenger seat: box of toys, box of snacks, bags of extra food on the floor, case of DVDs, and lunch boxes with cold things in them.
We needed gas and Lodge Grass, Montana has exactly one gas station. Actually I think we stopped in Lodge Grass on Day 2, before the Holiday Inn Express, but oh well. It's all running together. Montana is over 500 miles across, after all!
Lodge Grass, Montana's gas station parking lot was...rustic.
Ho hum, driving home, watching my ring catch the sunlight and thinking about my dear husband. Who says you need a diamond for sparkles?
The Montana scenery took my breath away! I kept taking haphazard pictures of it with my cell phone! For every good picture, there are at least 10 blurry/crooked ones, since all I did was hold my phone camera up and hope for the best while I was driving.
At the top of Lookout Pass on the Idaho/Washington border, the snow banks were still taller than me in places.
Hello, Washington!
Spring came to our valley while we were away. We've lived in this area for 7 years and this is the greenest spring we've seen by a lot. Thank you, crazy winter!
Sagebrush looks funny on top of bright green grass.
So close to home!
Jeff grows a beard every time we leave for more than a week, and this 3 week's growth was thicker than I expected. But I kissed him anyways because 3 weeks is too long to be apart!
The world is back to normal.