Like a Band of Gypsies...

Day 1 - Denton, TX to Amarillo, TX. Once we finished saying good bye - we hit the road.

I think this chicken is at a Stuckey's in Decatur, Tx?



Day 2 -Amarillo, TX to Farmington, NM. There isn't much grass in New Mexico.


I might not have noticed too much,
except I have this dog who likes to do her business on the grass.


It is beautiful in the distance, I just don't want to live there.


One of the kids caught this lady picking her nose, while her son watches us pass
(look real close in the back seat).


Every time we pulled out the camera, ClaireBelles was already "all done".



Everyone cheered up when we made it to the pool...




Great idea, Daddy :)



Day 3 - Farmville, FB... I mean, Farmington, NM to Provo, UT

Who's ready for another day of driving?
We had to stop for a few essentials: mom's medicine, lunchmeat and more DS games.


We went to Arches National Park , but you'll have to go check out those pictures over here (We took so many pictures, I'll put up another post in a few days)...



Day 4 - Provo, UT to Boise, ID. I don't even remember driving this day.... I'm sure there were hills, trees, maybe grass, sunshine, clouds, cars, gas stations and miles and miles of road.


So I'll give you a few more pictures the kids took...



self portrait by Emily


air guitar by Becca


dirty mirror by Katy


faces by Jacob









I do remember that the pool was ICE COLD!!!
Amanda, Claire and I got as far as the first step.
Katy did the big dive, without even testing the water first...bbbrrrr.
Jacob wanted to stay longer,
but he was a bit sick (pneumonia as a matter of fact).


Nana took them next door to Denny's for dessert :)

Layla did great. We were able to find grass for her in Idaho. She slept in Nana's room, with Katy, Jacob and Amanda. We had Claire (in the pack n play) and Emily and Becca in our room.


Day 5 - Fairview, OR

We stopped at a gas station inside a Native American Reservation
and found a little critter next to the pump.
It was like a souvenir but different.



We finally made it to the Columbia River George...


There were so many windmills. A few were really close to the highway.
It's surprising how BIG they are.


As we got ready to fill up for the last time, we thought they must have changed the laws, since we had pumped our own on the other side of Pendleton. So Darren tried to pump his own gas... well, it's self-serve on the reservations, where we found the little critter... but it's not allowed in the rest of the state! Earl looked at us like we had 2 heads.
Trying to pump our own gas - stupid tourists.



We passed beautiful waterfalls for the last 30 minutes before we got to Darren's folks house. But some of us needed to go potty so bad, the last thing we wanted was to stop and look at waterfalls. So here's the best we got.
Multnomah Falls out the back of a dirty window.



For those of you who remember the U-Haul fiasco of '01, we did not attempt that trick again. However, on our last day, I noticed some other poor soul giving it a try. Just had to get a picture....
to remind me how far we've come.



This time, Cool Whip and Blueberry ( our walkie talkie call signs... ) did a great job.


10-4 good buddy. Over.