We're here!

Greetings from Ann Arbor, Michigan!! We made it! We got here 3 days ago after being on the road for over a month and BOY am I glad that trip is done! Don't get me wrong, we had a fantastic trip. We got to visit friends and family, see some places we've never seen before and generally had a really good time. We had no car trouble, no illness, no getting lost and no catastrophes whatsoever.  (That's pretty darn miraculous if you ask me.) But travelling in a car across the country for a month with 4 little kids can get a little, um, tiring.

Don't worry, I didn't do it all by myself. My husband was with us at all of our stops, and even drove with us from place to place a few times. But he still had to work so he flew in and out of wherever the kids and I were and could only spend weekends with us.

For the longer legs of our journey that Aaron couldn't be there for, I recruited my Dad to drive us. He's a true road warrior and had gotten the itch for a road trip, so he was pretty stoked to get to spend a couple of weeks seeing some beautiful country and hanging out with me and the kids. And quite honestly, he was a total life saver. I could never have made it from Utah to Kansas on my own (at least not with my sanity intact), and having some one-on-one time with him during those long days in the car was lovely. He also helped out a ton with the kids along the way. He's what I consider the perfect Grandpa. He's fun and silly and all of that good stuff for the kids, but he's not afraid to lay down the law when it's necessary, either.

Just for fun, here are a couple of maps that (generally) plot the course we took from Modesto, California to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The purple dots are where we stayed for visits, with the yellow line being our route to each place.

 

We started in Modesto then made visits with friends or family in the following cities:

Windsor, CA
Caldwell, ID
Idaho Falls, ID
Salt Lake City, UT
Kanab, UT
Mora, NM
Kansas City, KS
Libertyville, IL

It was quite a trip, to say the least.  We're settling into a little furnished two bedroom apartment that my husband's company lined up for us in Ann Arbor.  We'll spend the next 8 weeks here while we look for a house to buy.  I'm not sure how many more posts I'll be able to do for the next little bit, but if I come up with something I'll be sure and share.  So check back occasionally, ok?    Sorry for the absence!