Vermont 2023 {Getting Home}

11 October 2023 - We left Ryan's and made our way a little bit south and then west, west, west. Gregg mapped out a route that would take us through many new states, and while any cross-country trip home is going to feel endless, it was (mostly) pretty fun to see some new country. We passed through Charlotte, then dipped into South Carolina and across Georgia (right through the middle of Atlanta!) (both new for everyone but Gregg). Then we went through Mississippi (and got the best BBQ from the best accented folks at Bishop's BBQ in Tupelo, home of Elvis Presley!) (new for all of us), snipped of just a titch of Tennessee (not new for any of us) and into Arkansas, where we stayed the night (new for all of us, and especially fun since that's where Gregg's mom served her mission and we're the first kids in the family to visit there).

Just some crazy overpass spaghetti to start the morning.
(Luckily all we were doing was staying straight.)

And here's Atlanta.

I'm proud of myself for driving through this (with
a lot of coaching and assistance from Gregg).

Pit stop for leg stretching and gas somewhere in Alabama.
(Google maps is not helping me figure this one out right now.)

I spy Birmingham.

We got some of (almost) everything and everything we
got was delicious!

What a sunset as we left MS!

Taken for Kim - proof we made it,
even if it was dark and couldn't
see what it looked like!

This was a hit on the long drive home. Cal and Sam especially loved it. I always love Grace Lin and thought it was a fun coincidence that this book talked about the Taiwanese custom of “ghost month” (which I think is June) and we listened during our “ghost month” of Halloween. They are not related at all, and actually the Taiwanese beliefs remind me of Dia de los Muertos, which is such a great holiday, but it was a fun connection in my head anyway.

12 October 2023 - Thursday was more of the same . . . point the car west and drive! We made a longer stop in Okemah, Oklahoma (new state for everyone!) around lunch time to eat and play and visit the library while Gregg (you guessed it) was presenting on a webinar in the car. Before Oklahoma City, the weather was sort of cool and cloudy, but once we got west of there the temps cranked up to over 90 degrees! The wind was hot, the land was flat, and we were definitely losing our cool. The panhandle of Texas (new state for everyone but Kim) didn't help. More flat, more heat. Blah. It didn't help that our dinner that night was a flop (just ask Cal about the nachos . . . or maybe don't!). But we made it through those hot, flat, boring states, and dipped through a tiny piece of New Mexico and ended up just over the border in Trinidad, CO for the last night of our trip. (!!) Amazingly, there was an indoor pool and hot tub (by the way, it was 39 degrees when we got out of the car in CO! talk about temperature whiplash), so even though it was late, we let the kids and dad splash and soak for a bit before bed.

Cute park in Okemah.

Cute library in Okemah. (Thanks for that sign so I 
didn't have to do much sleuthing to remember where
we were.)

Looking back at the park from the library.

Pretty ombre flowers out front.

It was the tiniest, cutest little library
and the people who were there had
the cutest southern accents. I totally felt
out of place when I talked. haha.

I loved this blue bookshelf with old
books and things on display. Maybe you can
check them out? I don't know.

The pool was extra fun because of the color-
changing lights shining down on it.

13 October 2023 - Friday the 13th! But actually it was the best drive of our trip home. I think it was because we knew we'd be home that night. And also: Colorado is beautiful! We saw stunning golden aspens and blue skies and snow! It was glorious. And also: the states get bigger and bigger as you go west! We were in Colorado for pretty much the entire day! We went up over Monarch Pass where there was fresh snow from a recent storm. That got us excited for ski season coming up! We stopped at Wendy's in Price for dinner - quick and easy and no risk of disappointment like in the burrito place in Texas. We got home around 8:30, mostly unloaded plus 45 minutes of vacuuming up great swarms (what is the group plural for these?) of earwigs in all the nooks and crannies of Sam's bedroom (I'm just glad it wasn't mice!), and into bed by 9:30. What. A. Trip!

I was trying to get a pic of that peak - Mt. Princeton, maybe?
I'm sure it was one of the 14ers anyway.

Snowy road to Monarch!

What was up with the traffic through point of the mountain?!
It was absolutely nuts. Of all the big cities we drove
through, this was maybe the worst traffic of all.

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

 Some fun (nerdy) stats of our trip:

42 days

28 states and 2 provinces

15 major cities

8767 miles

4 dozen (ish) cider donuts (bought and shared with friends)

tesla count: 1006 (yes, we made a graph when we got home!)