It's hard to believe that this was the last day of this unbelievable trip! When we left there wasn't much more than a general plan and a very full mini van to send us on our way. We had one destination scheduled and the rest was just a bunch of ideas and wishes. We had no clue what was ahead, what difficulties we might encounter or how much stamina we would need for riding in the car. What we did know though was that we were all up for the adventure and we agreed that no matter what we did, it was going to be fun!
The final day of travel was bitter sweet. We managed to get ourselves packed up and out of the hotel by 8:30am because the GPS was saying 8.5 hours even though AAA triptik was saying 7.5hrs. It didn't matter because either way we knew that this night we would be sleeping in our own beds, in our own house with our own pillows! We were happy to be heading home, but we were definitely going to miss this trip.
Since this portion of the trip was a total 'redo' there wasn't a whole lot of new stuff to see. So, we sat and listened to a book on tape and talked a little about all the cool things we did over the past 3.5 weeks. Surprisingly, the kids were not at all dissatisfied by the long hours in the car or the crazy raft ride. They didn't seem to mind eating peanut butter and jelly almost every day throughout the entire trip. They even didn't mind sleeping on the ground for as many days as we had to. The part they were missing the most was camping with all their friends. To them, it doesn't matter where we camp, it's more important for the kids that we are all together. Our kids are already talking about next year's campsite and where we should go.
Mark and I were talking about whether we would travel like this again. I have to be honest, it really wasn't as bad as it seemed. I spend most of my time in the car driving the kids all over the place anyway, this was just a longer jaunt. Having a goal in mind made the daily drives a little easier along with having the right company. It is amazing how a group of kids can keep themselves entertained on such a long journey. It was fun to sit up front and listen to their songs, rhymes and conversations. If Ally, Brooke & Matt weren't so open minded and patient, this trip would have been much tougher. I really think the kids were at a perfect age for experiencing a trip like this. It will be interesting to see if they are willing to do it again if the opportunity presents itself!
So, after 7,276 miles on the road we pulled into our driveway with a big sigh of relief. The house was still standing (it didn't blow away like the tent) and the grass was a bit taller. It looked as though nothing had really changed, but we all felt a little change inside each of us. Not only did we gain some educational tidbits along the way, but we also learned that we can have fun no matter where we go. We unpacked the car in record time. Everyone helped without me once having to raise my voice or even remind them to come back and 'do something'. Once of the best lessons the kids developed during this trip is that if we all work together the job gets done faster. That lesson followed us all the way home; let's see if it withstands the test of time!
After unpacking the car, I got dinner started and Mark and the kids took off to pick up the dogs. One of the really big motivators for getting home was seeing the pets again. The dogs came in with a whoosh! They were happy to be home as well. Copeland wanted nothing more than to be pet and Rue looked like she doubled in size. It was great to see their exuberance. We were all a little worried that Rue wouldn't remember us since she is still so new to the house, but that didn't seem to be the case. I think the dogs were as tired as we were though because it didn't take them long to just curl up next to us and fall asleep.
When bedtime finally rolled around Rue hopped up to snuggle with Brooke and Copeland went downstairs to my bedroom where it was cooler. Evidently, Matthew decided he wanted to be with Copeland so at some point after he was put to bed, he hopped out and headed downstairs to find the dog. When Mark went to bed a couple of hours later he found Matthew and Copeland asleep on our bedroom floor. Everyone was happy and satisfied. Guess we couldn't really have asked for a better experience!
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