Dev, Beatrice, Arthur, Shackleton, Cromwell, and I are back home after more than two weeks on the road. That's 3700 miles, 68 driving hours, and 677 photos! So many photos, in fact, that I'm dividing the posts up by city. But first, some photos from the road.
Our car, with rooftop "turtle" for extra storage
Happy to stretch her legs during a dinner break
Both of our kids (and both of our dogs) were excellent in the car. In fact, considering the occasional behavioral and sleep problems we had with the kids in Austin or Santa Fe, they were actually better in the car than out of it. Beatrice passed the time dozing, coloring, playing Travel Bingo, and watching "Olivia" cartoons on the laptop; Arthur spent his napping, hugging his Sleep Rabbit, and eating watermelon.
Beatrice playing bingo
We took the Interstate 40 from Los Angeles to Santa Fe (17 hours on the road, by way of Flagstaff), arriving late Saturday night. Early Sunday morning we were up and on our way to Austin, another 13 hours away.
Sleeping at Michael and Laura's place after our first night on the road
We spent five days in Austin before heading to Dallas, then back home again by way of Santa Fe with several side trips to destinations in Arizona. Plus coffee breaks, dog walking breaks, diaper changing breaks, and one emergency clean up stop after Arthur vomited all over the back seat.
Eating watermelon (and McDonalds) during a roadside dinner break
Meanwhile Dev and I listened to music and caught up on weeks of saved episodes of "This American Life," "Radiolab," "Planet Money," and "Car Talk," or I read books aloud to Dev as he drove. We stopped at several diners and cafes on the way, all entries in our copy of Road Food, and the whole family played the Family Road Trip Box of Questions game I bought (sample questions: "What are the three things you are most looking forward to doing on this vacation?" and "Talk about a time you got lost").
No comments:
Post a Comment