It's Sunday morning, and we are on day 3 of our cross country adventure.  Marty, Derek and Devlin are all still sleeping.  I think the drive is finally catching up with everyone.  We discussed hitting the road and moving on to Amarillo, but I decided we needed a day of rest.  Amarillo is 305 miles away which will be the longest drive yet.  I am catching up with clients and coaches this morning, while everyone else is still asleep.  I have a few appointments this evening, so I want to venture out this afternoon for a few hours while I have the time.  The kids have all done amazing on this drive! 

Yesterday we made an impromptu stop to the Petrified National Park.  It was really cool.  We all got to walk around and stretch our legs.  The view was beautiful.  The described the mountain views like a watermelon.  As the mountains slope down they are red, and at the top it's filled with green brush.  

Last night we headed into downtown New Mexico.  We stumbled on a concert in the park which was pretty cool.  We had some ice cream and walked around.  It definitely felt like New Mexico.  There was a charming Catholic Church, and several really cute shops.  We really wanted to check out the church, as they also had a convent, and a beautiful courtyard, but it was locked during the concert.  Derek suggested mass this morning, as the church is the 2nd oldest in New Mexico and still in operation today, but they are all still resting.  

We made a Walmart stop to pick up a few items.  They sell sparklers!  This is exciting for us folks who live in California.  We picked up several boxes for the kids to light throughout the trip.

The weather is beautiful right now.  It hasn't been too hot yet.  We know it's coming but we are loving it for now.  We will go through the tour book and make a decision on a museum or head over to Route 66 for a burger for lunch.  It looks like they have a Nuclear Science and History Museum that may interest the boys.  We didn't take any great shots last night in Old Town.  We will definitely take more pictures today to share.  We are a little sick of the desert at this point, and we are looking forward to seeing some green.

Yesterday we drove from Needles to Winslow and visited the Meteor Crater.  The Meteor Crater is literally a giant whole in the ground.  We spent $54.00 to walk through the museum and look at a hole.  I wasn't totally thrilled.  Devlin was excited to touch a piece of the meteor, which they say is over 50,000 years old.  He stood by the meteor and as people approached he told them all about it.  This was probably my highlight.  At least he learned something.

We stayed at the Meteor Crater RV park about 5 miles from the giant hole.  It was a great catch up on our rest kind of afternoon/evening.  I got our first load of laundry done, and we watched the stars.  

It's 9:30 a.m. and we are on our way to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We are in search for a bolo tie for my dad in one of the Native American shops.  My mom is less than excited, but it should be easy to find downtown.  

Albuquerque is known for there chili peppers, so we will eat out this afternoon.  Derek and I will head to the University of New Mexico to check it out.  We are here for 2 days unless we feel like we have seen enough and decide to move on east.  Unfortunately, there isn't much to see these first few days in the desert, so we are all a bit anxious to continue on in the drive.  Marty is literally doing all of the driving while I work, so we are gauging how much he wants to keep moving.

We made it safely to Needles around 11:00 pm last night.  Rather than continue on down the road to Bullhead City, we found a KOA site and decided to stop and sleep over.  The campground was very clean and perfect for an overnight stay.  There is nothing we want to see in Needles, so we are back on the road this morning to Winslow, Arizona.  

I wanted to see a coaching friend at Northern Arizona, but with all of us recovering from the flu I thought it was a bit rude.  So, we will head to the Meteor Crater site and stay overnight.  The kids want to explore the crater.

The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived.  We are about to hit the road for 7 weeks!  The last of our stuff is being loaded, and we are on our way to Bullhead City tonight.  

McKinley, Devlin and I all have the flu.  We are praying we will not vomit on the road.  Marty and Derek do not have it yet, and hopefully they don't get it.  Feeling pretty certain our first few days on the road are going to be rough!  As you can see, we are totally prepared!

Our family is getting ready for a major cross country road trip!  Planning for 7 weeks on the road with 3 kids is exciting and overwhelming.  McKinley just turned 1, and we are most concerned about the long days on the road while she is strapped in her car seat.  I have purchased several new toys that are small to keep on hand while we are traveling.  She has just began watching TV, so we are planning to download all of her favorite Wiggles episodes on the iPad to watch.  Derek and Devlin surprisingly love long car rides.  They have all their gadgets and will entertain themselves.  


We've put together our road map of all our stops, and are now planning what we want to do in each city. We will be hitting up college campuses, meeting with college coaches to understand their program, and then touring along the way.  Marty is most excited about the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.  We saw a show on TV about this place and he hasn't stopped talking about it for nearly 10 years.  Needless to say, we are mining for diamonds for a day.  Walt Disney World has probably been the most difficult place to plan.  They have so many resources, but it's seriously overwhelming!  I've read through so many tour books, and they all say you have to book reservations in advanced.  

Most of our camp sites have been booked, so we have our timetable down.  We didn't want to take a chance in the most popular areas of the country.  The boys and I are most excited about the 10 days at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort.  We are booked to swim with dolphins at Epcot, the Illuminations Dessert Party, dinner at T-Rex and the Coral Reef.  Everything else will have to wait.  We may not get to experience everything, but we have some great things planned.  The first 5 days in Orlando are free days for me, as the volleyball tournament doesn't begin until the 19th of June.  So we are spending the first 3 days at Universal exploring Diagon Alley, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Since Derek and I are die hard Harry Potter fans, we can't wait. 

We plan to blog our journey with pictures throughout the 7 weeks we are gone.  We will begin packing next week and getting everything together.  We've been planning this journey for a year now, and we can't believe it's around the corner.  In 3 weeks we will be living in our trailer on a road trip across the country.  Pretty cool!

Our Journey:

• May 28th - leave Laguna Hills, California 
• Bullhead City
• Flagstaff, AZ 
• Albuquerque
• Amarillo
• Oklahoma City
• Crater of Diamond State Park
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Gainesville, Florida
• Orlando, Florida
• Tallahassee, Florida
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Houston, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas
• Carlsbad Caverns
• El Paso, Texas
• Tombstone, Arizona
• Tucson, Arizona
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Home