A Spider, Dinosaur and Ninja.

Halloween finally arrived after much anticipation from the boys but mostly Zach. He loves everything to do with Halloween from the decorations, to the costumes, to the candy! He's been in and out of his costume for nearly 2 months now, and he and his brother had a blast trick-or-treating with Dylan tonight.

I'm not sure how it started, but Zach has been on a Darth Vader kick lately. He's never seen Star Wars, but I guess because Darth resembles a robot to some degree he immediately became hooked. Out shopping earlier today, Zach saw a Darth Vader pillow and begged us for it.

The funniest moment of our walk through the neighborhood tonight actually involved Darth Vader. There was a man dressed up as Darth sitting in front of his home with a light saber and a bowl of candy. He didn't budge an inch, and at first I almost mistook him for a dummy. Zach, Ben and Dylan made their approach. Zach was super excited and talking up a storm, but the man remained absolutely still. Finally 10-20 seconds later he moves his light saber across his body and asks the boys if they want candy. I've never seen a kid do a 180 and split as fast as Ben did! Obviously not funny to him at all, but the rest of us were howling. Here's the look on Ben's face as he turned to run....

Later when we all got back to the Bacon's house, we passed out candy to a group of kids and mentioned something about the man dressed as Darth Vader in the neighborhood. One of the little girls in the group piped up and told us that was her daddy. They got a good laugh out of Ben's reaction too.

How fun it was to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood with the Bacon's tonight! And how awesome is it that the boys could go swimming a few hours beforehand?! It's great to be back!

Double Digits

I've been in the double digits now for over 20 years now, but my young friend Dylan just reached his first decade today! I love having a birthday buddy, especially one as awesome as Dylan. I'm so happy our travel plans fell the way that they did, so that we could be here in Florida to celebrate our birthdays together this year.

The Bacon's went above and beyond to treat me to a great birthday as well as my own little family. Patti volunteered to watch the boys for Darius and I, so we could do a little shopping. It was definitely a little overwhelming! I forget just how many people (and tourists!) flood shopping centers around here. I struck out, but Darius was able to find what he needed, and we very much enjoyed our day together.

For dinner there was beef-o-plenty! We had awesome steaks and baked potatoes and the yummiest margaritas ever. Dinner was awesome and the key lime pie for dessert made me a very happy 33 years-young lady!

For Dylan's birthday today we got together with their family and friends at the local community pool/park/clubhouse, which is awesome! We enjoyed a great party and beautiful weather that I can't get enough of! We're so happy to be here!

I think the sweetest thing is how much Zach is all about Dylan. He likes to keep tabs on him, and I think I have heard him tell Dylan everyday that he loves him. He even sang Happy Birthday to Dylan all on his own...too sweet.

Thanks to all my family and friends for the birthday calls/emails/cards! I appreciate you all so much

And, Happy Birthday Dylan!! We're so happy we could be here to celebrate with you.

Roll the Credits

After making such a big move which involved such a long trip, I feel a great deal of gratitude for our safe arrival. I would feel like a jerk if I didn't give thanks where it was deserved all before, during and after our arrival...

Bill & Ann for the meals they brought us the last couple of days before we left Cordova, and for all the other things they've done and are still doing to help us out. They are such good people!

To all those people who helped us out by buying a bunch of our stuff before we moved...you all bought us a bunch of gas.

To Ben & Karla for putting us up and feeding us when our ferry cancelled.

To Subaru who makes a mighty fine Outback which got us here safely with no major problems.

To Garmin who puts out a great GPS which helped us find our way out of a very confusing downtown Edmonton late at night, and for helping us right all the other wrong turns we made.

To all our family in Utah that put us up, fed us, made the effort to meet up with us, took me to an awesome concert, and for all their prayers during our trip. As Zach would say..."I so love you....very much!"

To Tim the mechanic who fixed some minor things on the car while we were in Utah, one being the cruise control....so huge!

To Holiday Inn Express which is our favorite place to stay when we're on the road and we desperately need to wash a load of clothes, some of which are borderline ready to be thrown in the garbage.

To our family in Louisiana who also put us up, fed us, bought us pumpkins, and prayed for us on our trip. We so love you too!

To our awesome friends, the Bacons, who have anxiously awaited our arrival since we announced our move. For putting us up until we find our own place, for picking up all our stuff we shipped, for being the best friends we could ever ask for....we so so love you all too!

To all our family and friends who came along for the ride with us, followed our progress on the blog, sent us notes, wished us well in our travels. We appreciate all of you!

So many sincere thanks to all for whatever part you played, big or small, to support us in this move. Forgive me if I have missed anyone!

And last and most importantly, personal thanks to my husband for checking the oil each and every time we fueled up, for checking all the other fluids, belts and hoses. For making sure he did everything he could to keep us safe. For keeping the boys fed, watered, and entertained when it was my turn to drive. For making me laugh. I loved our time together on this trip!

And to the most awesome 3-year-old long distance travelers parents could ever hope for. Ben and Zach, you guys totally rock. The things your crazy parents subject you to! You roll with it whatever it is. We're so happy to give you the opportunity to play outside more often (in your bare feet without jackets or coats), to take you to the beach, to give you all the fresh fruit and veggies your bellies can hold....and those occasional trips to the golden arches. You are our super troopers and we love you most of all!

AK to FL - Recap

What a trip! Makes my head spin trying to wrap my head around how far we came. We managed to safely traverse a good amount of the North American continent and covered approximately 5,340 miles in 11 days, not including our marine highway miles from Cordova to Valdez. Our journey took us through 10 US states, 2 Canadian provinces, and 1 Canadian territory. With our extra detour days, our entire trip took us 16 days.

Our overnight stops were in Tok, AK; Whitehorse, YT; Fort Nelson, BC; Edmonton, AB; Great Falls, MT; South Ogden & Salt Lake City, UT; Cortez, CO; Amarillo, TX; Dallas, TX and Monroe, LA.

We took well over 1000 photos from the trip and still have between 900 to 1000 leftover after deleting the poor-quality shots.

 

We saw massive mountain ranges, huge lakes, rivers, landscapes as diverse as night and day, wild animals (it was a a wolf!), sunrises and sunsets as we made our way from the 49th state to the 27th. All that space inbetween holds a lot of people, all who hopefully enjoy the places they call home. We're so fortunate to live in a country that allows us to move from one place to another so freely, to find a place that feels like home to us when another doesn't.

I think Darius and I both agree that our home states will always feel like home to us because those were the places we grew up, that's where our families still are. We're pretty sure this is it as far as moving goes, but the bottom line is that home is wherever we all are together as a family. I love you so so so very much Darius, Ben and Zach. Wherever we go, you are all I will ever need.

AK to FL - Day 11

Our super-duper-cross-country trip has come to an end! Our last day on the road was yesterday and the longest of our trip at 16 hours (yikes!), but it didn't feel like it because we knew it was the last day on the road, and the excitement of reaching our destination kept us going.

We woke up early and left Monroe around 6:30. We watched a gorgeous sunrise as we headed east on I-20 and made our way into Mississippi.

 

A little side story to go with the following photo. I'll go with the short version. Imagine 2 young men driving late at night, the driver nodding off and veering right onto a service road. Barely missing a large pole supporting a gas station sign, the car sails over this grassy mound and lands in a large pond (which used to be here) and begins to sink. Darius, one of these young men, kicks out the sunroof and they are able to climb out and kick off from the car as it sinks. True story.

Stuckey's has awesome saltwater taffy and pecan log rolls.

US-49 S to I-59 S to US-98 E took us from Mississippi into Alabama. Both of these states I had never visited before, and I really enjoyed our drive through them. It's a good country drive, Darius told me, and I agree.

USS Alabama Battleship in Mobile Bay.

After we made our way past Mobile, I-65 S took us to I-10 E into Florida. It was such a relief to cross the state line and it was such a great feeling to know that we had no more overnight stops and no more state lines to cross. We were home. Around 10:30 we pulled up to the Bacon's house and we'll be here until we find four walls of our own.

We feel so incredibly grateful and blessed to have made such a long trip and have everything go as smoothly as it did and to even have the opportunity to make such a huge move. We had almost perfect driving conditions over most of the trip and great road conditions. As much time we spent together in the car, we honestly enjoyed our time together as a family and only had a few snippy moments. I can't even begin to describe how well the boys did on this trip. They really made a tremendous difference in how well the trip went. What a great experience for all of us. I don't foresee us ever making quite as long a road trip in the future, but I'll definitely look forward to making some shorter ones in the future.

A trip recap is coming, but for now I'm going to get ready and spend some time with our friends and family in the warm Florida sun. 

AK to FL - Day 10

We took advantage of another easy drive we had ahead of us today and slept in this morning. Once we got on the road we headed east on I-35 to I-30 to US-80 to I-20 into Monroe Louisiana, which is where Darius grew up. We're staying here a couple of nights with Margaret and Alfred before we make our final stretch to Florida.

Leaving Texas was more interesting than entering. The flat landscape from yesterday continued, but there were a few hills and the addition of trees. Everything looked very dry, probably a lingering sign of a very hot and dry summer.

Our last stop in Texas just off I-20. Great BBQ sandwiches, huge gift shop, and awesome rocking chairs. I so wanted to strap one to the top of the car.

One thing we definitely noticed about Texas is the abundance of Highway Patrol! If you're going to speed along their roadways, I suggest you think twice. Out of any state or territory we've drove through, Texas by far had more people pulled over than all the others combined. Don't mess with Texas....so true!

As we crossed into Louisiana, Darius definitely got as excited as I've seen him on this trip. It's probably as comforting to him to be in his home state as it was for me to be in mine. It's also a great feeling to know how far we've come and that we don't have too much further to go.

The boys were talking all day (and yesterday) about how they were going to Nini and Papaw's house. It's tricky to explain distance and time to 3-year-olds, so we try to use broad terms and keep the info to a minimum. We also find that it helps to just agree with them because that's a whole lot easier than listening to them shout at us because we tell them something different than what they think, or they don't like our answers.

Sassy even in his sleep.

It's good to have another stop along the way to visit with family and break up the drive. We'll head out again on Tuesday.

 

AK to FL - Day 9

Our drive took us from Amarillo on I-40 E to US-287 S to US-81 S to TX-114 E to I-35 E into Dallas. No crossing of state lines today. We opted to give ourselves an easy drive today instead of spending another long day on the road and pushing on into Louisiana, which we'll do tomorrow. Our drive today was probably the easiest of our trip so far. There wasn't a cloud in site today, the roads were good, and the landscape was mostly flat which was good for the car (not to mention our shortest drive).

It was about 5-1/2 years ago that Darius and I were making the reverse route that we made today. Darius' memory is by far better than mine, so he remembers a lot more from that drive than I do, but we both distinctly remember an antique/collectible/junk store we stopped at. We weren't quite sure where it was, but we lucked up and spotted it in time to turn around and double check. It was definitely the one place we wanted to stop at today.

Most of the store is exactly the same as we remember, and I don't know how better to describe it other than a brain overload. This place is like an organized hoarders palace. You could spend days, maybe even weeks there, and still never sort through everything inside and out. Your brain simply can't keep up with your eyes, it's that kind of place. Needless to say, an outside photo doesn't even scratch the surface of what this place is. If you're ever passing through Quanah, look for it just south of town on US-287.

Spider man......

....and Spider Zach. The boys picks from Hoarder-Mart.

Darius scored us a great deal on a Holiday Inn Express room using up our Priority Points. We really enjoy staying at the HIE, and this is our 3rd stay on this trip....although I think we may have entertained another KOA in the area if we had found another teepee!

We arrived in Dallas early enough to go out for a great dinner at Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen on Northwest Highway & I-35. Really awesome food! It's one of Darius' favorite places to eat, and we thoroughly enjoyed our Mississippi Catfish Opelousas entrees. I have a really happy belly right now. I love catfish! I'm going to kick back and relax in a big comfy bed while I digest....maybe watch a little playoff baseball with the hubby.

We cracked up over Grandpa in his buggy equipped with car seat....no child included.