Spring Break 2013

What an adventure.  My baby brother Jared got married March 9th in Logan, Utah.  The good news was that the kids' spring break was the next week so we could spend a few extra days with family.  The bad news was that airline tickets were going to be over $5000 for our family.  Ouch!  We decided to try road tripping it at an 1/6th the financial cost.  But we weren't sure about the mental cost.  9 people in a van for over 24 hours could be setting ourselves up for failure.  Fortunately, we made the trip in 25 hours each way, about 5 hours less than we thought it would be.

Highlights of the Trip:

#1)  The 3 AM cat fight between Miley & Aly.  Miley wanted Aly to put a blanket on her, Aly kept trying, Miley kept kicking it off.  Both of them were half asleep.  It was 15 minutes of crying/screaming from both of them that the rest of us won't forget.

#2)  In-And-Out in Centerville, Utah.  Our driving force to keep the bathroom breaks short.  We hoped to get dinner there.  We were fast enough to eat a late lunch.  Yeah!

#3)  7 Minute Bathroom Breaks.  We figured out a method to get gas and the 9 of us in and and out of a bathroom in about 7 minutes.  I think the fact that we didn't stop at a bathroom that we didn't say a prayer first that we wouldn't get some communicable disease.  Where is a Buc-cees when you need it?

#4)  Charlie's.  The late night ice cream run with Jared & Keirra, night before their wedding was one for the books.  No one does a Rootbeer Freeze like Charlie's.

#5) Wedding Pictures.  Miley refused to be in a single wedding shot with the professional photographer.  We do have several pictures of her screaming and trying to get away though.

#6)  Double back plane ride.  Al had patients scheduled that were going to be too hard to change.  His travels went like this.  Leave Texas at 5 pm on Thursday by car.  Arrive in Logan, UT at 5 PM on Friday.  Leave Utah 5 PM on Sunday for Texas by plane.  Leave Texas 7 PM on Tuesday by plane.  Leave Utah 10 AM on Thursday by car.  Arrive in Seguin, Texas at 1 PM on Friday.  I think he spent more time traveling than vacationing.

#7) Does KFC ever run out of fried chicken?  Yes, as my mother-in-law found out at noon on a Wednesday.  Fortunately, Juniper Take-Out pulled through so we could have fried chicken for Grandma Elaine's special lunch (menu was her request!).

#8)  7-11.  Two trips for those heavenly slurpees.  Nothing else on earth like them!

#9)  Hike to Delicate Arch.  A 3 mile steep round trip hike with recommended two water bottles per person quota.  We attempted with 4 total bottles.  We quickly found there was a reason for the recommendation.  Along with the water issues, we weren't exactly dressed for a hike.  My house shoes actually handed the hike okay.  So proud of the little girls for hanging in there and making it.

#10)  John Grisham & Downtown Abby.  Thank goodness for headphones and a DVD player for me to keep me in the car those last couple of hours.  Al was glad for the climatic ending of The Racketeer as a book on tape, though he did look like a secret service agent driving with only one headphone in.