Survival of the Fittest (i.e. those with the most snacks)

The first stage of our journey is over!  And I don't know why my font is this way -- hold on -- ok that's better.  The other is pretty but this is probably easier to read!

Anyway, Chopper and I have always enjoyed roadtrips and while it's harder with 2 small children in tow, there are still some fun things about traveling cross-country.  I love to see different parts of the nation, even if it is from the highway!  But I miss having Chopper with me -- you can only laugh so much about funny things with a 3 and 1 year old.

So a few travel tips:

I-35 is a hole through Oklahoma.  Don't plan on using a bathroom unless it's a gas station and don't even both getting out of the car!

Kansas is a nice state to drive through top to bottom.  There was a great info. center with a lot of pamphlets of different interesting things that I look forward to reading at some point.  I've been toying about doing a learning project with Megan about the different states and Kansas had some great ideas.

Pipe Cleaners will buy you 10 minutes -- maybe more if your kids are older -- they rescued me when we had an hour to go and Abby just lost it.  The pipe cleaners distracted her enough to stop the crying and get mind onto something else.

Snacks, snacks, snacks and a great drink leash by Make it and Love it.  It's under baby items or kids items I think, was super simple to make, and kept the girls fed and watered!

We saw the Wanderlodge!  A few years back on one of our trips, Chopper and I "drove with" this old Wanderlodge RV that belched black smoke and looked like it would die at any time but managed to meet us at all our major stops (it was weird). On our trip this time I saw the updated version -- still brown, still huge, but no black smoke and it didn't follow us around!

We ended up leaving my friend's house and getting in 4 hours before stopping in a hotel for the night.  I am soooo glad we did!  The last day was the longest and due to traffic and construction we tacked on many hours to our trip.  The hotel was ironic -- I managed to get the LAST hotel room available (probably in the area) due to Iowa's RAGBRAI.  That stands for The Register's (Des Moines Register newspaper I think) Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.  Anyway, it's a 7 day bike ride and we just happened to be right in the thick of it.  That seems to happen to us a lot -- we NEED a hotel when there aren't any available! 

Anyway, we're finally here and having a good time although it's been a lot harder for the girls to adjust this time around.  Nights have been hard and Megan has been not so nice.  If it doesn't get better we may have to go home early.  I hope not.  The weather is in the low 80s (as opposed to triple-digits in Texas) and I like spending time with my family.