Here's To... Road trips

Here's to... Road trips.

I love road trips.  I think they are one of the most fun things we can do with friends, spouses, family, etc.  Now, clearly I understand that road trips with the wrong people can be a disaster (hello being stuck in a car with someone you can't stand)... but with the right people they are a great distraction from the demands of everyday life, and a great time to squeeze in a little "windshield time" with the people you love.  I love road trips with Dave because we get to talk and talk... and talk.  And read each other facebook and twitter updates.  And dream about owning a business or our next house or expanding my counseling practice.  We recently took a rather lengthy road trip to Colorado.  We went about 90 miles past Denver to our family reunion.  That's 9 hours driving, plus stops.

Our first stop was in Lincoln to drop some stuff off for the JDRF garage sale.  We got there about 9:45AM.  We left about 11.   Hahaha.  The morning was almost over and we were 60 miles outside of town. But what's the hurry!?!?  We might have been earlier had we not stopped for donuts and coffee on the way out of town (another reason I love road trips!).  Then, we stopped outside Grand Island to eat.  By the time we left there it was easily 1:00 and we weren't even 120 miles from home.  Seriously, we were enjoying one anothers company so much we knew it was all good.

 This is me, at the rest stop in GI.  I was so relaxed, so thrilled to get away and go to the reunion.  If I had a third hand it would have been patting myself on the back for getting this lunch packed and not eating fast food, which I love, but makes me feel awful when it sits in my stomach for the next 12 hours.

 

These are pictures of my sweet boy, eating like such a big boy at the rest stop.  "Normal" food that wouldn't cause gastro issues for him, either :)  Then stretching his legs before the next "stretch."

I love playing with Dekker on road trips.  He is adorable.  I love how much fun he is!  He giggles at anything and totally occupies himself.  (Last year on this trip he occupied himself by crying for 13 hours and we took the wrong interstate outside of Denver, but we don't talk about that.)  This year was a different story...

 

 

We made it to the reunion in great time.  We cut the drive home up by stopping in Denver for a night.  On our way home Tuesday we had another great day... starting it the right way...

With Coffee....

And a little local produce shopping (don't worry, we shared)...

And we finished the trip with more dreaming out-loud, playing with Dekker, long stops to stretch 

our legs and make memories.  

 

For some reason at this stop, Dekker could not stop trying to get something out of Dave's pocket.  

We're still not sure what?!?

I have always wanted to open a monument store--  Dave just listened to me dream and dream, asking me question after question, even encouraging me at one time to start writing stuff down.  We talked about software that needs making :) and our sweet boy, who we can't believe is growing up so fast.  We talked about if he needs a brother or sister (and no, we're not pregnant, not trying, but considering).  I don't know how many times we turned to one another and said, "How did he get so big?"

 

 

 

And instead of continual crying... this year our little boy even slept a little...  

How adorable is he?!?

Though I love road trips, and all they are to my life, I must admit that they make me very tired.  Here is what I looked like by the end of the trip!

Thankfully, this little sign kept me laughing the last several hours home!

(It was a lie, by the way.)

On the Journey,

Mae