Saturday, May 26, 2012

Finding Joy in the Journey...

 

Our 30 hr Road Trip Across The Country

Somehow Shawn managed to convince us all into joining him in a 3 day journey to Georgia where he will be working this Summer. After a LONG process of getting everything ready we headed out on May 9th...with an extra car in tow. ( which may I just mention turned out to be a TERRIBLE idea!..the extra car I mean; not the entire trip.)

 
 Here we are packed up and ready to leave our lovely home in Cedar City, UT
The girls had a great attitude, and were excited to get started on our new adventure.
Driving into Arizona the girls were 100% positive we were driving though Radiator Springs. 
(You know the little town from the Disney movie Cars.:) I must admit it did look A LOT like it. The girls were super excited about this, and after a LONG discussion about the town, the characters, & the movie, they decided it must be a sign they needed to watch the show right then.
(So sweet how excited they get about such small things.)
Like any road trip it did not come without a few unexpected delays. We made it just outside Albuquerque, NM before our first small disaster occurred. We ended up having some trouble with the car dolly we were pulling when a pin came loose. This resulted in our family stuck on the side of the freeway in the middle of the night with a broken bumper, and a broken hand for Shawn. :( 
 
This is Lauryn @ 1:30 am, upside down in her carseat while waiting for the tow truck to arrive. 
She does not let anything get her spirits down! Brylie was just thrilled that she was allowed to stay up so late ...Seriously these girlies have such a good outlook on things. 

We weren't able to get away very early the next day due to the fact that Shawn spent the entire morning trying to rebuild the car dolly...one handed I might add, but still made it across the entire state of Texas before stopping in our old summer home of Oklahoma City for the night.
Back on the Road Again...



On day 3 we drove through Arkansas & Tennessee then hoped to find a hotel where we could relax and revamp. Even this turned out to be a process...we could not seem to find a decent hotel that had a room available until Mississippi, and once again the car dolly turned out to be a major pain. We got stuck in a parking lot when other vehicles blocked us, and the tongue of the trailer broke completely off. Luckily Shawn used his iphone to find a VERY, VERY nice man that was able to weld it back together the next day, and we safely completely the last 5 hours of our trip.


The kids were AMAZING throughout this entire journey. They kept us laughing the entire time, even when we felt more like swearing. :) They sang Disney songs and Taylor Swift beautifully, colored pictures, watched movies, told jokes and took everything in stride.
This little man was also amazing. He slept so good in the car, and when he was awake his awesome big sisters were quick to entertain and give him his binkie when necessary.
FINALLY!!!
Saturday- Day4,  we arrived to our new house in the sky.
 Mcdonough, GA 

Despite all of our minor hiccups along the way I genuinely enjoyed our LONG, LONG journey together. The scenery was beautiful, the company was fantastic, and Shawn was forced to listen to everything and anything I wanted to talk about. :)



7 comments:

Rick said...

Glad you made it safe!! Your girls are so cute and so fun. My favorite was the part about Shawn having to listen... that's my favorite about car trips :)
I hope his hand is ok and gets better quick, it looks pretty bad!
Linkon is darling!!

-Camie *not Rick* :)

Hollie said...

Finding joy in the journey. So profound! I love it! haha I also am a little jealous of your license plate idea. Super cute! I'm glad you all made it here safe. You saved me. :)

Angie said...

Holy moly...and I thought the drive to OKC got long! I am a terrible road-tripper, my kids do much better than me! Sucks about the broken hand and the car dolly....it'll all be worth it to have your own car out there...maybe....I don't know that sounded like a pain in the butt! Haha. Have a fun summer;)

Megan Parkes said...

Oh my gosh Ash! I just read this to Aaron, you guys are amazing. Poor Shawn!

Jamie said...

I am so jealous! I want to take an adventure across the country. :) Can't wait to see you.

Ashley Jackson said...

Oh my gosh Ash, what a trip!! So glad you finally made it there safely, sounds like quite the adventure! It will be a great story as your kids grow up, glad that all the kids did so awesome. Hope you are enjoying Georgia!

Mikkel said...

Oh dear. U and shawn are amazing- its no wonder your kids are too. I'm really glad your here, can't wait to get together :)