California dreamin’

Day 23, final day on the road

0 more days of trip to go

I wanted to be on the road around 6am, but didn’t set an alarm last night, so I wasn’t sure if we’d meet my deadline. Lo and behold, 5:26am found me wide awake, and by the time we got everything loaded, got fuel, and stopped at a Winco to reload the snack boxes, we were actually getting on the freeway around 7:01am. Not too shabby, given a grocery store stop for breakfast, instead of being able to drive through somewhere.

We passed the border around 10am, and felt like we were making pretty good time. Definitely disappointed by the lack of an appealing visitor center. Looking at you, California. 👀

We arrived at home at 3pm, and unloaded the mess that was my car!

Auntie M was in need of her own home space, so when Uncle Chris got here after work, they headed over the hill.

The animals have been very loving and sticking close by since we got home:

I happened to have items to make tacos happen tonight, otherwise, we are in definite need of grocery run! Guess that’s what 3 weeks away from home will do to the food stores!

In 23 days, we drove 6,788.5 miles…

Had 2 injuries to the burb – gum on the leather seat, and a divot in the windshield:

Saw a few Roadkill Cafe offerings of:

2 cows 7 skunk

18 possum 2 cat

26 racoon 6 coyote

7 bird 2 boar/pig

25 armadillo 12 deer

4 rabbit 1 poodle/1 unknown dog

2 squirrel 3 turtle

1 groundhog 1 shelf

3 snakes 2 frogs

1 carpet roll 1 chupacabra

We spent $976.14 on 356 gallons of fuel. I had estimated about $1,100 being our cost, and boy does that overestimation feel like I personally accomplished something! 😂

We went to Chick-fil-A 6x, some form of Mexican Restaurant 4x, seafood 2x, and stopped at Walmart for snacks/groceries/necessities 3x.

We went to one meteor site, 2 (or 3?) national parks/monuments, 2 science centers, 1 historically significant location, 1 Biblical recreation site, passed through 4 time zones (and back) , crossed 3 continental divides (but only saw the sign for the eastern one), and each found a specific state or place we liked best.

We made so many memories, met so many people, spent time with amazing friends and family. My heart is full.

I’m grateful for our friends and family that let us stay, took time to visit, and fed us. Your generosity and hospitality made this trip not only happen, but made it worth it.

I’m grateful for my SIL, Auntie M, for coming and helping with kids and driving and cooking and cleaning up and keeping me sane.

Most of all, I appreciate my husband. His willingness to send us off into the wild blue yonder, meet us for a time, check on us, and making this trip happen – thank you! ♡

As Porky Pig says:

That’s all folks!

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Arizona

Day 22

Ian and I were in the same bed last night, and Ian is a tosser and a crowder. Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep. Then, he was up at 5:20am, and woke his brother not long after. I spent much of the day in a near coma stupor.

We had breakfast, bid Dana and the kids goodbye for the day, then walked over to the pond and fed the catfish.

We saw 4 turtles:

The kids had a good time:

After we ran out of food to feed, we walked back to the house and the kids and Auntie M took a swim. (I wasn’t feeling it today.)

When the kids got home from school, they all swam some more, then came in to play Dance Central.

It was good to sit and visit with my Gillis fam. It was short, but I’ve promised that they’ll be first stop on any future trips, so they’ll get us while we’re fresh – and we’ll stay more than a day! They’ve been very good sports with my last minute changes.

We were supposed to go to the Carlsbad Caverns yesterday/today, but they got cut out just like the last trip. We arrived in Arizona early, and now we’re too tired to stay longer. It’s been an incredibly amazing, and awe inspiring trip, but we’ve all hit the end of our endurance!

So, here’s to the last night on the road, and good sleep for the long drive tomorrow! 😋

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Travel Observations

Things I learned on this trip, in no particular order:

1. The freeway system outside of California has a better set up, and is easier to understand. The lanes are painted with the upcoming interchanges (arrows saying which lane you needed to be in, including the upcoming highway/freeway number), making it so you knew exactly where you needed to be. C’mon California, get it together!

2. People are friendly. To be fair, I knew this already, but I love knowing it.

3. There is far too much to do in this country. 😆 We got a million suggestions of where to go, what to eat, things to try, but we had a specific timeline set before we left. We would have had to add 3 months to the trip to do ONLY what people suggested, not including all the things available to do along the way.

4. Our country is gorgeous. All the green. All the water. Stunning! (All the humidity hadn’t hit yet, so…go in the spring or fall. Lol)

5. When traveling, pack even lighter than you think is “packing light”. Because of souvenirs, and people gifting you things.

6. Trash bags save lives. 🤣 With all the road trip snacks, there was trash. With the trash, came a sense of being overtaken by madness. But the bags removed that madness. Bring trash bags.

7. Friends along the path make it an amazing journey!

8. I’ve had so many people say, “I wish…” As in, I wish I could do something like this. Do. It. Save the money, make the plan, and go. It’s worth it. Even if it’s a short trip.

9. Rest stops in other states are ah-may-zing. Clean, and open, and every few miles. If there’s not a rest stop, then there’s a picnic stop, set up like a rest stop minus a bathroom, or parking stop for those who need to sleep. If they’re close to the state line, there is a visitor center, with copious quantities of information, friendly workers, vending machines, and landscaped. Up your game, Cali…

10. Doing things that scare you, or are outside your comfort zone grow you. It helps you to learn what you’re capable of. Shows you that YOU CAN _______. (Fill in the blank.)

Bonus lesson: Speed limits in Texas rock.

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Texas to Arizona

Day 21 <— how did that happen?

Day 72 trying to get across Texas 😂

Ok, it hasn’t been that bad, but it definitely takes longest to get through Texas, obviously. It began raining when we left this morning, matching my mood of not wanting to leave my sweet friend, Colleen. I would feel this way if we were leaving after a week, also.

Her house overlooks Peaceful Valley, and reminds me so much of my hometown, Ojai.

We finally got on the road around 7:30am, and had a definite 13 hours on the road ahead of us, but with stops….

Oh, look, water:

Loaded to the gills:

The drive, with stops, took about 3 or 4 days, (because…Texas) but we made it in roughly 15 hours (because…80mph).

Much of the drive through this western part of Texas reminds me of the Mojave area of California.

The black fence is the separation between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Almost every bridge has different decorations, or symbols, which is interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

This is one in El Paso:

This is one in Tucson:

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we passed through New Mexico.

Over the Rio Grand, which I expected to be more….grand. But, given that it wasn’t the Rio Grande, I guess it’ll do.

We saw a large, metal sculpture of a road runner. In the middle of nowhere.

We saw Curious George and Rudolph, riding in the back of a truck, with an adult beverage.

We saw gorgeous, desert scapes, crystal blue skies, and kept driving, until we finally hit Arizona.

We arrived at our stop in Gilbert, and everyone was elated to be out of the car. We are staying with good friends of mine, whom I’ve known for many years. I used to babysit their son, from when he was a couple of months old until he was almost 2.

Tomorrow we will get to relax and expend some energy in their lovely pool, before our last leg of the journey starts. Looking forward to unloading my car! 😂

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Flight to Arkansas

Day 4 – Reunited, and it feels so good

You know you sang that… 😆

Today, we didn’t have an alarm set, and yet, it still felt way early when we got up.

Our first destination was the Oklahoma City Memorial. It’s a beautiful and sobering place to visit.

Survivor wall, a portion of the original building.

Tiles sent from all over the country were incorporated into the Memorial.

I don’t recall these chalk areas being here last time, the kids each wrote their names.

We came upon a group of high school orchestra and choir students from Texas, on an end of year trip, practicing by the Survivor Tree.

Listening to the choir:

The pool and chairs that represent the lives lost on April 19, 1995.

After the memorial, we just drove until we hit the edge of the map. Or, that’s what Mist and I felt like!

Speaking of driving, I have been remiss in my roadkill report the last couple of days, but today was the largest amount and variety, with:

1 raccoon

1 possum

4 armadillo

2 deer

1 bobcat

Also, since I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy, I giggled far too much over the name of this road:

I don’t car who ya are, that’s just funny right there!

After that, the scenery kept getting greener, with trees everywhere!

Also, they have this amazing stuff called water. Also everywhere! I know, I know, it’s too much to take in, but it’s TRUE!

Hello Mudda, hello Fadda, we sure drank a….⬇️

😂😂😂 Oh man, so much good material to work with out here!!

Ahem….moving on!

I’m not even sure what time we hit the state line, but possibly around 3:30, local time.

We finally arrived around 5pm to some stunning views and a gorgeous new house, as the first visitors to stay.

Just the view from our bedroom, no big deal:

After dinner, everyone sang me happy birthday, and we had cake.

Julie, who’s birthday was yesterday, and Dave:

Deb making sure I knew we were singing the birthday song to me tonight! 🤣

Yes, let’s take a closer look at all those candles, shall we? Looks like we need Fire marshall Bill…

I let Owen blow out the candles for me, as my wishes have all been fulfilled being here in this gorgeous location, with family, enjoying the peace and blessing of my first day as a 40 year old….old… I’m so old now! What happened here?!? 😂

The boys (and Emily, too) spent the rest of the evening running up and down the cool spiral staircase, playing with the pups, pouring water into the dog dish from the upper deck, and otherwise expending some much built up energy after days in the car!

Bed time was an easy process, Dave said (the next few days he’s in charge lol), and we get to explore and enjoy Arkansas, until mid next week!

Now, this 40 year old is going to bed, as it’s 10:30pm here, and we’ve been up since 5:30 Cali time – it feels like we’ve put in extra hours the last few days!

Until tomorrow!

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Ten things I learned while traveling…

…or was reminded about.
1. An unplanned stop can be the highlight of the day or trip. (I highly recommend Walnut Canyon Nat’l Monument, outside Flagstaff.)
2. The Petrified Forest. Eh…almost not worth it. At least not after Walnut Canyon. But now we can say we’ve been there!
3. When traveling alone, with 3 children, ALWAYS find the hotels with indoor pools during the winter, if you can. It’s well worth it.
4. People are generally forgiving. And generous. And willing to go out of their way for you.
5. Kids can go fairly long distances with enough of the correct incentive. Like snacks. And movies.
6. When staying at other people’s homes, always have an alternative available to going outside, for if the weather is icky. Being stuck inside, away from home can get kids in trouble. (See my post “A Series of unfortunate events”.)
7. Sometimes the stops you think will be the most difficult to make, turn out to be great. Sometimes the stops you think will be the easiest, turn into more difficult ones. In either instance, be grateful and forgiving. Kids (and sometimes even adults) are just human, and prone to having good and bad days. Some days humans are just jerks.
8. Build in down time in long, long trips. As the only driving adult for 18 out of 25 days, I didn’t build in time to unwind or be able to have solitude during several of the stops, which can cause anxiety and general sour moods while traveling with children who have many, many, many words and questions.
9. Traveling without going into debt can be done, and feels really good.
10. The time, the distance, the inconvenience, the cost – all worth it, because in all the time, and distance, and inconvenience, and cost are good times and bad times, and memories, and learning experiences. And above all, the time together.

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Many thanks

Some of you heard this on our travels, but others have not yet:
Two days before the kids and I were set to leave, David came home from work and said he thought he may be let go the first week of December. My first question was: do we need to cancel the trip?! Which he said no to, we already had it planned, and saved for. Then, I told him to tell them that if they did, it needed to be in time for him to drive home with us! Haha
After being on the road a few days, he called to tell me they had projects to finish by December 18, so he’d have work through then, for sure. Oddly enough, I was mildly disappointed. I was looking forward to having him drive home with us! Lol Of course, I am grateful for employment, but you weren’t on the road for the last 72 and a half years with these kids! Then, the last week of the trip, he told me they have a project the 1st week of January for him, so that guarantee was a huge blessing! Thank You, God, for taking care of our family!
I cannot express adequately just how grateful I am to each person who made this trip possible. Without you allowing us to stay, play, and in some cases, destroy…(again, I’m so sorry Amy and Riley!) your homes, we wouldn’t have been able to make it back to visit Dave’s brother’s family for Thanksgiving.
We’ve been home a week and a half now, and it’s amazing that it seems so loooong ago that we first began our journey!
Thank you again for keeping up with the Crow’s!

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The Crow’s fly home

Day 25 – final day
We got on the road about an hour and a half after I originally planned, but with snacks and movies on our side, we made good time!
We took pictures with Jim and Mimi.

And then headed out. Our final leg of the journey!
The San Tan Mountains

Arizona has some of the most clean lines, and colorful buildings. I love that their freeway overpasses are all decorated  – this wasn’t the very best looking, but it’s the only one I got a picture of.

Seeing signs of “home” was exciting!

Seeing a very large plane right over the freeway was a different kind of exciting! Lol

Long tunnels are always fun. There is a tunnel on Highway 33, on the way to my parents, that we have a tradition of honking when we go through. The kids asked me to honk in this one. I said that the others in this tunnel wouldn’t understand what that was about, so I would wait until we went to Grammy and Poppies house!

We saw “real” cactus, as Ian said.

More. Miles.

We finally hit home turf!

We had to go through a checkpoint, where they didn’t seem to check anything, as they waved us by.

And California is a jerk. Between big rigs and shoulder construction, I barely got a picture of our Welcome sign. Huff
I mean barely…

I’ve never seen a palm tree farm before.

It looked a lot like Arizona still!

I went longer between fuel stops then usual, and almost got myself in trouble! And the speed limit from Florence to home was 65. I pushed the brink, because when you’re on day 25 and you’re going home, you’re willing to do 80 to get there!

I despise the Los Angeles basin – which is anything south of Tejon – and it’s ugly, smelly, grouchy traffic.

Finally I-5 and “my” places!
Headed up the pass!

Pyramid!!!

One more turn…

The smoggy, dusty, ugly Valley I call home!!

The 99!!! Twenty minutes to home!

Hallelujah, the end is near!

The Nest straight ahead!

Reunited!

Where a drink was waiting, in my new favorite cup!

Dinner was ready and waiting!

Our travels took us many, many miles!

And we found 36/50 state plates. The surprising ones:
Alaska, seen in Oklahoma.
New Hampshire, seen on I-5, just passing Magic Mountain, an hour before getting home.
And we saw 4 or 5 Canadian plates.

Then, because I had pressed to get home so we could make it, we headed to church to see the Hanging of the Green. Our annual decoration service.

RowRow met us, and the kids were very happy to give and get hugs!

Ian had an emotional time, adjusting to being home, overdrawn, and over tired. He cried for awhile, over several issues, and withdrew for a time.

After I acknowledged his feelings, he felt better.

The church was packed!

We took some pictures with RowRow

We came home and did our nightly routine, which brought child #2 to tears, Emily. Children were finally ushered to bed, and David and I visited for a little while, before getting into bed ourselves!
And that, my friends, is the conclusion of my traveling tale!
Fin. The end. The Crow’s have returned to The Nest.
Thanks for keeping up with us!

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Florence, Arizona

Day 24
To bed at 11pm, and up at 645am, with an obliging Mimi, who had toys and books and breakfast made for us by her loving hands.

Playing has been good for the kids, especially after the longest day sitting in a car they’ve ever experienced!

New friends made, and played with ALL DAY LONG. It was cute to watch them together.

Movies were on Emily’s agenda for several hours, as her brothers played “military” with the local boys.

After hours of outside time, and Emily finding a local girl that play with, the kids didn’t want to leave to see Christmas lights…but I believe they had fun!
We went to Chick-fil-A, our safe eat out place, and across the street, we saw an awesome sight!

And Ian snapped a less than flattering picture of me…lol

But I got a cute one of him!

By the time we left, there were more balloons to be seen!

We finally arrived at the Mesa Church of Jesus Christ LDS Temple to one of the most amazing light displays I’ve ever seen. Lights EVERYWHERE!

Amazing Biblical scenes – Joseph and Mary, on their way to Bethlehem

Lights in every tree

Isaiah

LIGHTS! EVERYWHERE!

Look!

The reflection pool was stunning.

My favorite Nativity scene they had!

We listened to a local high school choir sing carols.

And a little boy admitted to being tired, and snuggled me -THEE best thing ever!

The kid were getting tired, but we headed over to see the Nativity’s from around the world.

On the way back to Florence, the boy couldn’t maintain a wakeful state, so they gave in to the Sandman…

I had to bathe Owen before bed, because he had spent most of the time the choir sang rolling around in the grass. He was itchy and I didn’t want his asthma acting up, since I forgot the nebulizer.
The kids were off to bed, and I stayed up late (again) watching a cute Christmas movie with Mimi. An excellent day!

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As the Crow Flies (to Arizona)

Day 23
After the usual round of breakfast and goodbyes, we headed out early.

It was a little bit cold when we left.

The kids wanted to stay and play longer, but this momma has home on her mind!

More gorgeous back roads…

…beautiful scenery…

Colder temps, as we got farther away.

We flew as low and a as fast as Texas highways would allow!

Spent time watching movies…

Many miles to go…

Driver boredom.

Snacks…

…and more snacks…

Miles…

I got distracted by the driving thing, and missed Emily’s 300 mile mark, but she opened it with gusto!

None of the pictures do any justice to the lands beauty.

Wishing for home…

More. Driving.

We reached mile post 1, or our first fuel stop.

More. Miles.

Construction. It was amazing (not awesomely so…) how much construction there was going on I-40 and I-10!

Beauty.

God’s creation.

More…miles…

More boredom.

Traffic.

Mexico.

The new version.

More. Construction.

More movies.

A stretch our legs stop, and toys to reward the job well done by the kids.

Border Patrol, where we were asked if we were all U.S. citizens.

Then, the sun turned on us.

Difficult to see the movie.

I found out my sun-in-the-face-look is also my pissed-at-life-look.

But then she set and created even more beauty to behold.

Which makes for happy travels!

Third and final state of the day! Although, many more miles to go.

We stopped in Tucson for dinner, at a Chic-fil-a, miles off the freeway. It was a stop longer than intended, but good for the kids. When we were ready to hit the road again, I needed to use the facilities. A Tucson PD officer, Officer Corey, was just sitting down to dinner and paused to engage the kids in conversation while I was in the bathroom. His kindness made this momma, traveling alone, feel secure in not keeping my kids “quarantined” to the bathroom with me.
I took a few extra minutes to send their FB page a message, thanking them for employing a kind hearted officer. Thank you, Officer Corey!

After 15 hours on the road, 3 hours of visiting with Mimi Vicki, and trying to type this out for 45 minutes last night, WordPress froze up and deleted everything. I was very perturbed.
So, at 2am, I set my phone down and decided to go to sleep.
Today is a new day! 😉

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