Roadtrip highlights

The kids kept asking me if we were there yet, so I drew them a map to show just how far we still had to drive.

We left a day early for our trip to California. Scott got off of work earlier than we planned, so we packed up and left. Was the house clean? No way. Did we have car snacks? Just barely. And thank goodness for our layover at the cousin's house in Utah to stack up on more food and car entertainment. 

As illustrated in the map above, we drove from our home in Idaho down around the Salt Lake and then off across Nevada, headed for Clayton, Calif. 

Lucas stole both of his bottles from me as soon as I filled them up. 

Here are some random thoughts about our long drive there and back:

1. Driving across Nevada is way more fun when you have a destination. Driving home afterwards is SOOO long and lame-o. We were so sore from sitting, I can't imagine what saddle-sores must feel like. And although there are apparently hundreds of ghost towns off the highway, none are visible without driving out a ways. I really wanted to see a ghost town...

2. The best car snacks for my boys ended up being popcorn, capt'n crunch, apples and cheetohs. 

3. Scott did most of the driving. I had plenty of books to read and a drawing pad, but I just couldn't get into it. Plus, I was more carsick than I have been before (I think because of the heat and not eating well). The Dramamine really knocked me out on our drive there. On the drive back I felt better and discovered the BEST app on my phone - DuoLingo. I practiced my rusty french all the way back across Nevada. 

We stretched our legs in the middle of no where, but there sure was a pretty view of the mountains. 

 4. The boys were awesome. Lucas just had problems on one long stretch between Winnemucca and Reno, but it was because he needed to fall asleep. Other than that, they traveled like pros. When I told this to Scott, he asked me why they wouldn't, stating that they got to play on the ipad and watch movies for 12 hours straight. Very true.

Me stuck between car seats in the back of Grandma's car on our drive up Mt. Diablo.

5. Just as we were about to finish our drive at 10:30 at night - we hit a traffic jam and were stuck for an additional 45 minutes outside of Magna, Utah. Ugh! We passed our time by whining and mooing at the cows in the truck next to us.

I'm thankful to have driven all the way there and back safely. Home feels very sweet today.