After roughly 72+ hours of travelling, sleeping in 5 different beds and in the van, breathing the air of 10 different states and another country, inhaling thousands of unhealthy calories from fast food restaurants and snack/junk food in the car, and drinking gallons of carbonated drinks… we are home. and detoxing. our lifesavers on the trip (Luke’s pacifier, Superwhy DVD, and treats, way too many treats) are now banned as we try to resume normal eating, exercising, and sleeping! But we had a BLAST!!!
For those of you who haven’t heard the stories, our trip was quite eventful (good and not so good)…
on the way out:
- blown fuse to power/radio (in the driveway),
- yummy dinner and visit with Evans
- Christina’s car in a snowbank with popped tire (in Nebraska),
- towed to Grand Island (thanks Wes’ AAA), new tire rod & 4 snow tires,
- screaming toddler from 3-4 am & 5-6:30 am in hotel (in Nebraska),
- Luke’s barefeet dipped in snow, thus developing fear of it
- Christina pulled over for speeding (in Nebraska) (warning only thankfully),
- sledding with Peo’s
- lost keys to van (in Utah)
- spent extra day with Peo’s
- van towed to SLC (thanks Wes’ AAA), rekeyed by dealer
- pulled over for headlight out (in Montana) (just noticed in the town before, warning only)
- detained at the border for 5 days (okay not really)
in Canada:
- New Year’s Eve with Grandpa & Grandma Payne, and Payne family
- play with Sam, Lauren, Abi, Matt, Drew and new puppy Rusty (Luke in heaven)
- weiner roast in Waterton, Luke overcomes fear of snow!
- Christmas presents from Grandpa and Grandma Payne! thank you thank you!
- transfer 800+ slides to computer, reminisce a bit
- visit with old friends, a little boys foosball tourney, game night at Pam’s
- Darin: sick, not moving from couch all day, throwing up, Nada: disgusting cold
- Darin: 1 cavity filled, Nada: 1 cavity filled, (thanks, Dustin!)
- adult night out (plus Natabear, asleep mostly), dinner at Moxie’s, Avatar 3D!
- play some more with cousins, sad to leave
- Luke rides in Grandpa’s truck, loves it!
- Natalie starts “talking” and smiling more!
on the way home:
- Luke pukes in carseat, car smells of puke and Lysol
- spend extra day with Peo’s, cleaning seat, relaxing before the long haul
- bought new headlight bulb
- arrive in KC at 3am, Luke goes to sleep at 5, wakes up at 8 = tired Mom
- multiple breaks keep Luke sane, arrive home 8pm
lessons learned:
- Nebraska sucks, it was the coldest state, and cursed… sorry Nebraskans, didn’t like it.
- we’re all gonna get sick while travelling, its a part of life
- stories on CD rock
- we love family, really love family, and would do it all over again just to be with them!
alittlebitofthepaynefultruth 
Okay, we live in Nebraska now, and all I have to say is….I AGREE!
Brrrr, sorry Seth. hope the cold doesn’t last too long!!
Brings back not so fond memories of punishment.. I mean road trips. Glad you had some good times!
I hate road trips– You guys are amazing! Glad everyone survived, even with all the drama along the way, including getting sick which is never fun. Wish we could have seen you, too bad we were sick at the time! Natalie looks so sweet and scrumptious! And I won’t move to Nebraska, based on your reviews.
Wow I super admire you guys for taking that trip. We have decided once we have two kids road trips of longer than 4-5 hrs are out! But yes family is worth it!
Jen, we decided this year we had more time than money, so we went with the drive rather than the flight! it makes memories though, rather Aaron?! Next time Joy, we will visit for sure!
You guys are crazy making that drive all the way across the mother land to get to Canada, all the power to ya though. Grats on the new kid and all that stuff. Darin in reply to the mexi-stache comment, that beautiful piece of work took me a full 2 months to grow! Don’t be h8ting on the stach.
Wow, it looks like there were more “not so good”s than “good”s, but it sounds like the good outweighed the bad! Road are always gonna be eventful (especially with kids!). We saw Avatar 3D over the holidays, too! and loved it. Glad you’re all safe.
We really did have a blast, it’s just funny how the trip has to be adventurous…because I’m a Whitaker and Whitaker trips west are ALWAYS an adventure!
Thanks for the posting! I love road trips even if there is an occasional mishap. Mishaps create memories. 🙂 I hate Wyoming. I got a $275 ticket driving through on a road trip. I’ll never go back to WY. Natalie is getting so big. I need to see her. Clara and her need to have a play date sometime. 🙂