Travels: 17 miles driving around (7681 total miles)
Accommodations: Continued at Bartlesville, OK
We spent another night with the Craigs and woke up to play… We got ready and got out of the house for the day. Dave went to the hospital with Kyle to visit a patient while Kourtney and I went to the trailer with the six kids – I cleaned up, and she entertained them. Then, we went out to lunch at a BBQ place called Dink’s – it was quite tasty! Try adding jalapenos to a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw. Then, Kourtney and I took the kids to see the 3D Shrek movie while Kyle and Dave worked and the little ones took naps.
After the movie, I cut up 15 pounds of peaches that I had bought in Texas (you know Texas peaches?), and we got dinner ready. Menu: balsamic vinaigrette dressed salad with roasted veggies, crumbled goat cheese and cherry smoked bacon with cornbread and fruit salad. Then, we celebrated the 4th of July observed with some fireworks we bought at a stand. The kids thought it was great. Irresponsible parents didn’t put shoes on Mason who stepped on a spark and has a little blister. Sad! We had some peach cobbler out on the deck in the warm Bartlesville summer evening air, packed up and went back to the trailer for bedtime! Such a nice weekend!
Dave and Micah had a late night working on installing can lights in Micah’s kitchen – they started late and got done later, but it turned out looking great! We had a slow morning getting going – got some laundry done, Dave got some work done, cleaned up a bit, packed our stuff back into the trailer, and ate some breakfast.
After our enjoyable stint at the museum, we headed to Railhead for some Texas BBQ. It was yummy – chopped beef sandwiches, beans, coleslaw, and a frosty beer.
We groggily rolled out of our beds around 7am. It was warm; we needed to get new tires for the trailer; and we needed to get to Fort Worth. Conveniently, Walmart has tires for travel trailers, so we pulled around to the tire department and got four new tires. Unfortunately the trailer was too big to fit in the bay, and the workers couldn’t work outside the bay, so Dave had to remove each of the wheels, take it in, and then put it back on after they changed the tire. $540 later at 9:24am we were back on the road.
We left Chama, NM after a great time with Dave’s dad John and his wife Linda. It was a beautiful spot, along the Rio Chama (river) with some great company. The kids had fun with their grandparents as did we. We had a nice breakfast (thanks Linda!), packed up, quickly celebrated John’s bday, loaded up and pulled out. Back on the road. We had a late start; we didn’t leave until around 1:30pm.
We were right about the length – it was a very long day. For sure, my hardest travel day yet – I just didn’t feel well. The drive on the other hand turned out to be prettier than expected. We again traversed through pines and then down to desert, red sand, and the occasional rock formation in the distance. At times the highway was lined with these beautiful, delicate purple/white bunches of flowers. We have seen so many different terrains on this trip! We have gone over mountains. Around mountains. Through mountains. And between. Down to deserts and then back up to mountains and down to deserts. So interesting how many times the landscapes change!
There was an amazing sunset – comparable to sunsets in Hawaii and a huge full moon. We decided to drive as far as we could tonight, since the kids were asleep, and we wanted to spend as much time with Micah as we could.
At 1:15am I had drifted off to sleep and Dave was still driving and determined when he sees sparks out of his window from our trailer tires. Another tire had blown out, so we pulled over somewhere on the 40 in TX. Dave proceeded to change another trailer tire (thankfully we had bought another spare on our way to Chama!).
We woke up at 9! I think we were all so tired from the travel the day before – Mason slept from 6pm-9am; the girls slept a little less. When we finally rolled out of bed Grandpa and Grandma Linda were already up. We started on the dishes from last night and making breakfast and around 10 we all sat down to a delicious breakfast.
Today was planned to be a long drive; we were hoping to make it all the way to Farmington, NM. We drove north back through Flagstaff and on the 85 coming into Flagstaff. We saw remnants from the fire. We also stopped in Flagstaff to get Mason some flip flops; you don’t even know how nice 90 degrees felt to us! We continued driving and “pop” went a trailer tire – pulled over in a very precarious spot Dave proceeded to change the tire. About half way through a state trooper came and turned his lights on to help protect Dave from the big rigs whizzing by him. Then back on the road, much of our drive through Navajo Reservation lands – a very dry desert. Today was a quiet day – the kids read, colored, listened to a story, Marin napped, and then they watched A Bug’s Life before cozying up in their carseats/boosters and going to sleep. We also had MANY potty breaks interjected into the drive – girls!! We drove until midnight when we finally pulled into Farmington, NM and the Walmart parking lot. Ah – fast asleep!
July 6, 2010
Travels: 6 miles driving around (7687 total miles)
Accommodations: Continued at Bartlesville, OK
This morning I woke up to my alarm at 5:15am!!!! Can you believe that? I barely can. Why, you may ask? Kourtney asked if I wanted to go to the spinning class she teaches and I of course said yes. I needed a workout and accountability. I was a bit nervous having never done spinning and not being much of a bike rider, BUT I know it is a good workout, and I need that! So, I popped out of bed to avoid waking the rest of the trailer occupants and got dressed. Kourtney came to pick me up in the pouring rain just after 5:30, and we headed to the YMCA.
After pumping some iron (grossly exaggerating my pre-workout), I headed to her spinning class. Now friends, let me tell you, this is not an easy form of exercise. It lasted 52 minutes and boy was I counting down the minutes as my legs burned with each pump. Warm-up, sprints (really fast), standing pedaling (excruciatingly hard), more sprints, jumps (stand, sit, stand, sit…), hills (slower and lots of resistance), finally around minute 50 we moved to a cool down and stretch. Great workout! Great teacher! Fun times – I would for sure do it again.
After class, still pouring, Kourtney dropped me back off at the trailer to my sleeping family. Around 7:30 the kids got up (many late nights have left me with very tired kids!) We hurried to get ready and get to the Craig’s house by 8:20 so the older girls could get to tennis lessons on time. Kourtney took them, since it was still raining, and I stayed with the littler ones. Mackenzie had a great time! Although, she identified that she did not actually play tennis just practice.
The rain seemed to cease a bit, so we decided to venture out with the six kids to Walmart to get a swim vest deal for Marin and some stuff Kourtney needed. By the time we had checked out the rain was down pouring. Kourtney pulled the car up to the curb to load up the kids, by the time we were done we were both soaked. My hair was dripping with water and our clothes were drenched. Fun times!
Back at the Craig’s we had a mellow day – naps, playtime, Dave got a haircut, and we made dinner – lasagna, salad, fruit (with Graham oranges, yummy Texas peaches, and blueberries), and bread. After baths, we loaded up in the truck and tucked the kids in at the trailer.
Kyle had invited Dave to observe a delivery, and just after 9 he called Dave to let him know he was leaving for the hospital. Dave met Kyle there, hopped into some scrubs, and got to see a little girl being born.
Dave: Many of you have heard me say that I want to observe a delivery without being emotionally attached, and I finally got my chance. It was a lot different being a fly on the wall, but quite emotional nonetheless. I can’t wait to do it again.