Our Road Trip Recap

Where to begin for our two week journey West???  Well, to start, we did our trip right!  We took our time and slowly adjusted to the time zone changes.  Plus, it gave us a ton of time with family to have fun along the way.  First off, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN where we met the Jones family for a little "vacation".  We spent time at the Aquarium and doing a lot of shopping.

Next up, we headed to Texarkana but stopped halfway to stay with Uncle Russ in Memphis.  It was fun to get to see their house and their little doggie, Winston.  Now Will is obsessed with getting his own dog....sorry no pictures.

When we arrived in Texarkana we had a great time fishing,

Riding four-wheelers and the EZ-Go,

And celebrating the 4th of July with our own little fireworks production.  The best part was terrifying Rhonda with some little zipper fireworks that shot off in crazy directions.  

After a few days of fun on the farm, we headed back to Little Rock to spend some time with Shea's parents at their house.  The kids loved the backyard and I loved how they were getting so much energy out on this entire trip :).  We jumped a lot on the trampoline,

went to the Discovery Museum downtown,

and had lots of fun with this pretty little girl, their cousin Scarlett.

After our time with family, then it was time for our 3 1/2 days of traveling westward.  At first I wasn't sure how this was going to pan out.  It could be fun or horrible due to children in the car.  The boys did GREAT!  However they were coma induced with electronic devices for the entire time.  First stop was a short day to Oklahoma City.

After OK, we headed to Albuquerque, NM.  We stopped in Amarillo to take advantage of a photo shoot at the iconic Cadillac Ranch.  

We also took a little rest stop in Tucumcari, NM.  I had to take a picture.  This was the town my PaPaw was born in.

Another stop along the way at the world famous Cline's Corner.  (it's ok, I wouldn't have known what it was but we used to stop there on every youth trip to NM.  It really does boast to be world famous)

After Albuquerque, we headed to Flagstaff, AZ to spend the night.  I guess I didn't take any pictures.  I was quite surprised at how different it was then I expected.  It was 7,000 ft above sea level and full of pine trees.  Pleasant surprise.  After Flagstaff, we had half a days drive to Las Vegas.  We stopped at the Hoover Dam just outside of town to stretch our legs and take pictures.  It was breathtaking!  This is Shea at the middle of the dam looking out.  That bridge in the background was what we drove on to get there.  The dam is not part of the interstate anymore.  You can drive or walk across it after you enter the visiting center.

I'm so glad we chose to drive.  Although long, it was one that I won't forget.  The scenery was beautiful and we saw a lot that we would not have otherwise.  I told S when we began that we were crazy for even attempting it but we did it!  This definitely goes down as a family memory we will all remember.  Next time we need to rent an RV though.  ha!