Wrapping Up The Trip...

there are so many facets to the trip that i am not even sure that i can successfully convey all my thoughts into words....

* i throughly enjoyed being on the road

* wish we could have shopped more

* loved sharing the adventures with my family

* loved that we traveled to so many states in such a short period of time

* didn't like that we traveled to so many states in such a short period of time

* soaked up family time with distant relatives

* fell in love with the Midwest

* want to do it again and again and again and even one more time

* the kids were so great!

* wish i did better with their travel journals

* missed some great photo opportunities!

* had some great photo opportunities

* loved playin "On the Road Again" every time we left somewhere

* felt super lucky to miss ALL the bad weather... really!

* WOW!!!!! THE CHIEFS BABY!!!!

* wish we could have made more stops

* wish we could have done some actual camping a bit more

* liked the anticipation of going

* had more road trip activities for the kids we didn't get to do

* America is a great place to travel!

* will be more prepared for packing an rv next time

* Peaceful... at times

* memories, memories, memories :)

Mormon Lake, AZ last stop!

SATURDAY, JUNE 21ST
We woke up to a very beautiful, country-like campground tucked back in northern Arizona near Flagstaff. The area is Morman Lake, although the lake dried up 8 years ago. When it did exist, it was the largest natural lake in Arizona. There are 2 other surrounding lakes; Lower Lake Mary & Upper Lake Mary that still have water. It was very apparent that at least 50% of the "RVers" lived here for the summer. Many had made little porches. Some were decorated for the red, white, and blue holiday. Some owners had golf carts as their transportation.

We started off the morning by filling our canteens (we weren't going very far, but i wanted it to feel as olden' days as possible), puttin' on our cowboy hats and headin' off to the horses. Both kids had the chance to ride full size horses and not just ponies. Ugh, made me really miss being around horses! Little known fact: i once had a beautiful Arab named Akalam Alexander. He was a gift from my parents for my 16th birthday. He was such a fantastic horse. He taught me not to be afraid, just be a little smarter than the other guy and be in control. He was like a over sized pet. :) Anyways, both kids were beaming up on the horse. Kienan rode Knobby and Kenzie rode Arizona.

We then went and visited their Buffalos. They started with just 2 Buffalos many years ago and now their is an abundance of them. We then went back and loaded up the fishing gear to catch some trout for dinner. They had a small man made pond on the property.

Our very dear and spontaneous friends from Phoenix, Stephanie & Alexa, joined us for dinner and a slumber party! It's been over a year since we have all seen one another. Needless to say this was a fantastic way to spend our last night out on the road. We GATHERED some wood (because buying the bundle would be much too easy), cooked up some great food (unfortunately, not trout), enjoyed smores and beer and laughed with best friends!!!

SUNDAY, JUNE 22ND

Today started early. 6:30am early. But when the kids wake up, EVERYBODY wakes up. Kienan & Kyle headed down to the pond for some early fishing. The girls joined up later. Lex caught first fish EVER!!! Kienan also reeled in his first fish. He couldn't wait to cut it open with his Swiss Army Knife. THIS was the moment he had been waiting for!

Ask him how big his fish was and he will tell ya!

Well gutting and cleaning the fish sounded so fun until there was actual blood and guts. As you can see Mackenzie really enjoyed this bonding time with her dad ;) We have 2 fish in our freezer waiting to be our next meal!

We had to say goodbye to them, but then HELLO AGAIN!...... to kyle's dad, Patrick, Mary Lou, & Ilove, Mary Lou's mom.

They too drove up from Phoenix and had some lunch with us at Mormon Lakes famous lodge restaurant. Kienan acted like he was in a museum studying all the stuffed animals on the wall. Although the visit was waaaaaay too short, it was awesome too spend some time together! Hopefully we can go RVing together!!!

The Trucker Club

THURSDAY, JUNE 20TH

Today was a beautiful day in Colorado. Auntie Tracy and Josh took the kids to a very cool water park. Kyle and i joined them later in he day after spending the morning resting and cleaning the motor home. We then went to Red Robin for Tracy's birthday. On the way back to her house we were fortunate (in my opinion) to experience a magnificent lightning storm with rain to go with it. Fresh rain smells SOOOOOOOOOOOOO great!!!! i love that sagebrushy smell when it rains. Kienan kept insisting that he could hear the lightning and see the thunder :) Everyone snuggled up in auntie's bed for a great nights rest.

FRIDAY, JUNE 21ST

We are off! Josh has decided to stay and visit with family and friends for a few weeks. Arizona here we come! It's always really, really good to visit The Grand Canyon State. Kyle and i have a lot of good memories there. Arizona is where he and i began our journey together. Almost 9 years later we are rollin' through with our family. How fun is that!!!!

We hit two AMAZING HAIL STORMS through Sante Fe, New Mexico. The hail was so large and so abundant and so loud when it hit the motorhome that we could not even hear each other speak! That is hail on the windshield in the picture. i was sooo IMPRESSED with my husband's driving skills! I slipped in a small science explanation of hail to the kids to ease the fear that was seeping thru their nervous smiles. It worked!

We stopped in a parking lot in New Mexico so that i could whip up some dinner. I'm lovin' the Stoffers microwavable dinners! i give them 5 stars, especially on the road. It was so stress free to be in the motor home during meal times and sleep times. When someone was hungry, they ate. No searching, pulling over and eating yucky fast food! (We only ate out 2 times the whole trip). Whenever someone was sleepy they grabbed a pillow and blanket, laid down, and fell right to sleep. One of the days i had to wake up Mackenzie after a 4 1/2 hour nap!

i ended up driving the last 150 miles into Flagstaff, Arizona. it was about 11:00pm and i was awake and kyle was exhausted after driving for 11 hours. He cuddled up with all 3 kids on the pullout couch and i cranked up the road trip tunes. i sang my heart out! Every 1/2 hour or so i would see the row of orange lights creep up in my side mirror. They were the lights of the Roadbeast. (hey, i was getting tired and making up stories was an effective way to keep me awake). As the Roadbeast appeared closer in my mirror i would prepare myself for THE PASS..... THE PASS consisted of me grasping the steering wheel 10 & 2 with white knuckles. When those trucks passed, they sucked the motor home right into their lane. And those trucks are BIG! So each time it was a game of how steady i could keep the motor home when those semi trucks flew past me. i wasn't gunna be pushed around in my little rental! Of course i always felt so cool when i gave them the headlight flicker to move back in front of me. It was like being in a "Trucker Club." My daddy taught me that!

Typical Malaka got lost with the thanks of the miscalculated GPS and a snoring husband. i ended 23 miles south of the correct freeway exit. Fortunately, i was able to contact a guy bartending at the saloon at our destination: Mormon Lake, AZ. He redirected me to a road through the forest. IT WAS PITCH BLACK! i could not awake typical sleeping kyle. i really had noooo clue where i was or where i was headed. i did end up spotting 3 or 4 elk on my way into the campground (30 miles from the freeway in the middle of nowhere) which was exciting. We finally rolled into our rv campsite at 1:45am! Whew!

920 miles

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18TH

We had to say goodbye to grandma this morning :(. i will miss her. i know that we will all miss her.

Setting: grandma's driveway
Time: 10:30am, we are just about to back out

Kienan: "Mom, i'm gunna miss grandma."
Mom: "Ya bud. What are you gunna miss?"

Kienan; "Her trees and my dragonfly (he found a HUGE 4 inch long dead dragonfly and carried it around in a jar). I'm just gunna miss it all."

Too cute :)

We took some last minute pictures this morning.

Destination #7: Colorado Springs, Colorado with a stop at Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium

We are conquering the longest leg of the trip today. 920 miles from start to finish. Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. By the time we reach Colorado tonight (about 2 more hours) we will have logged a total of 3400 miles.

But this trip has done us well. Several times kyle has mentioned that my skin is glowing and that i look great. He actually let me sleep in this morning, finished the laundry, went to the store for grandma in the rv, and cleaned up inside the rv all before i woke up. i could get use to this! The calm relaxed me even contemplated adding one more to our family in the next couple of years. Kyle mentioned how much he loves being on the road and we agreed what a great way to start each summer with a road trip. :)

First stop today was Arrowhead Stadium. We actually added some mileage with this stop, but i couldn't be this close and NOT STOP! So yes a dream came true and here i am standing in front of the stadium of the GREATEST FOOTBALL TEAM!!!!! i really love my chiefs. Kyle bought me a chiefs license plate as a souvenir :)

i am pretty sure they are going to the Super Bowl this year cuz i just brought them some good luck!!!

As we headed west we were aware of some thunderstorms in the distance. We watched the storm clouds as we got closer as once again missed the bad weather!!! But the clouds made for a beautiful sunset on one side and out the other side was a double rainbow; perhaps the most radiant rainbow i have ever witnessed.

The kids totally did great today for the amount of hours we have been on the road. I think they actually needed some down time and some extra sleep. i have completely thrown out any kind of schedules this trip. Twice they have been to bed past midnight. They glued some pictures in their travel journals and i jotted down some of their thoughts. Kiera has been cutting a top tooth the last 2 days and also decided to take some steps at grandma's house. She has been soaking up all the attention!!!

Tonight we will arrive and stay at kyle's sister Tracy's house. Tomorrow we will celebrate her 40th birthday with a BBQ and special surprise!

The Midwest Feels Like Home

SATURDAY, JUNE 14TH
It was great to wake up in the Bain house this morning :). We had breakfast where kyle's cousin Becca works. We then spent the morning at McKenna Park. Kyle used to swim there when he was a little boy. There is a picture of him standing next to the pool when he was under 2 years old, so i took a picture of him in the same place now all grown up!

After the pool the Bains & the Donovans went to Aunt Karen's house for lunch and some hang out time with all the cousins, Sara, Ian, Becca, & Jeffery. What a great backyard, great food, & great company! Aunt Karen's only concern about her backyard are the wild rabbits that eat her flowers. And then i couldn't help but to think of "Peter Rabbit" when one cute little bunny stuck its head out of her shed!

We then drove 3 1/2 hours to Grandma's House in Carroll, Iowa. Luckily we have completely missed ALL THE BAD WEATHER! Everytime we get to a new place someone will say, "this is the best weather we have had in a long time!" I'm sure you've heard all the weather news about Iowa. Grandma did have to go down in her basement for tornado warnings before we got here. Most of the bad stuff is East of where we are. Since we've been here nothing but beautiful 70 degree weather!!!! So yes, we are all safe in Iowa! VERY THANKFUL! When we arrived at 10:45pm grandma had homemade stew hot and ready on the table. YUM!

SUNDAY, JUNE 15TH (I LOVE YOU GRANDPA!!! I LOVE YOU DADDY!!! I LOVE YOU KYLE!!!)

Happy Father's Day! Unfortuntely, i'm not able to be with my own daddy & grandpa today. Fortunately, kyle gets to spend father's day at his grandma's house with his uncles, Merlin and Vince, and his brother-in-law, Keith. Grandma is making a turkey dinner. We are eating Midwest style with dinner as we call lunch and supper as we call dinner; the big meal of the day being dinner.

TODAY'S EVENTS:
Climbing grandma's trees
Watching the birds
Drinking rootbear floats on her front porch
Playing tag at the park
Having a water fight
(ages 3 1/2 to 47)
Attempting to catch fireflies
(highlight of my trip)
Holding their first sparklers

The kids have been climbing the trees in grandma's front and backyard. This picture is all the great-grandchildren in a tree that kyle's uncle merlin planted in 1977, the year kyle was born.

MONDAY & TUESDAY: JUNE 16TH & 17TH
We've just been hanging out at grandma's house. Uncle Vince & Aunt Jeanette also came to visit grandma. It's great that they are here as we have not seen them in almost 2 years! They have also really enjoyed spending some time with the kids. Funny that we Californians have to come all the way to Iowa to see each other. :) We took the kids swimming at the Carroll Recreation Center, climbed more trees, planted some flowers, and BBQed. And by the way, kyle and i went to the locol grocery store to buy some corn. Well, they didn't have any fresh local corn. Only corn from FLORIDA! Who comes to Iowa to eat corn from Florida?!?!?!

Today grandma taught me how to make homemade strawberry jam. We ended up with 4 delicious jars! i'll be trying out all the other fruits this summer. Mackenzie loves being in the kitchen so i hope that this is something her and i can do together. We also had a chance to drive out an visit the old Bueltel farms where grandma & grandpa used to live. There is only a barn left standing at one place and nothing but corn fields at the other place. We visited Kyle's grandpa's grave, his great grandparents and a few other family members. We also saw where his mom went to school.

i have come to realize during my stay in the midwest that I REALLY LIKE IT HERE. i must get it from my mom as she was born and raised in the midwest. BUT, i do get the love of heat from my dad and don't think that i could withstand the snow. i really like the wide open spaces and the green grass and the slow down feeling. i like the yards with no fences and the idea of producing most of my own food. i would defintely have a garden and some chickens and some horses probably a pig or two and maybe even a cow. i just like it here. i am sad to go as it has been really great getting to know kyle's grandma a lot more and being a guest in her home :) THANKS GRANDMA!

Mount Shmushmore

THURSDAY, JUNE 12th

So we did almost everything we wanted to do in Cheyenne. For some reason the motor home kept trying to head out of town every 1/2 hour. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that kyle was not lovin the place.... and he was drivin'. We went to the Wild West Museum. Crazy to see how much a town revolves around one event. Frontier Days keeps that town going. They buried a time capsule at the museum last year. i think we should bury one somewhere for our kids to dig it in 50 years. The kids had fun inside and we learned a whole lot about bull riding and the days back when. There was a very cool "Western Kid Room" that we all explored.

Of course we loaded up on fireworks. "Loaded Up' is not an exaggeration. We drove through downtown and we were outta there. I could have stayed longer and done some western shopping, but we had a long drive ahead of us.

Destination #6: Deadwood, South Dakota

We drove north through Wyoming all day. Kinda neat to see the abandoned cabins and homes out in the middle of now where. i told kyle that i wish i could hear each persons story. i'm sure there are farms from four and five generations. Spotted some antelope and more cows than i cared to count.

The road into Deadwood was magnificent. Being dusk, the deer were coming out for dinnertime. The first one we saw ran across the road right in front of us. Startled both kyle and i as we were not prepared to handle roadkill. But at the same time we were typical tourists yelling, "DEER! DEER! DID YOU SEE THE DEER?!?!? I SAW THAT DEER! KIDS! THERE WAS A DEER! SEE HIM? THAT WAS A DEER, RIGHT? SEE HIM RIGHT TH.....AHHH HE JUST JUMPED OVER THAT FENCE!!!! QUICK TAKE A PICTURE!! Wow.. that was cool. Did you see that deer?"

We were fortunate enough to see about 20 more feeding near the side of the road. We even saw a group frolicking in a meadow. Really cool. The drive was the best yet. Just peaceful and almost too perfect to be real. Our campsite was right near downtown Deadwood AND there was a river. River = Fishing. So i gave kienan a gift i have been waiting to give him; his first Swiss Army Knife. Him and dad and josh bundled up (i'm guessing about 40 degrees) and headed down to the river for some late night fishing. Kienan proudly carried his fishing pole and his Swiss Army in his pocket. :)

Kiera was asleep so this gave Mackenzie and i some girl time. We played some games on a mini dry erase board (so perfect because there is no paper to constantly throw away), ate chocolate, and read stories with a flashlight.

FRIDAY, JUNE 13th

Woke up this morning with another itinerary that went right out the window even before we woke up because we woke up late! i doubt a mother made up that word "itinerary." and then the first hour became comical. i was sooo excited that i had found pre-made pancake mix! Add water, shake, pour (now that is something a mother would come up with). Ya, no where on the handy little container does it say, "Duck after vigorously shaking for 30 seconds as contents may explode in your face, your children's hair, the ceiling, the air conditioning unit, and a variety of other places you'll find throughout the day." Then Mackenzie spilled her milk all over herself and the cushion. Then josh opened the refrigerator and a majority of its contents fell to the floor. HA!

We walked the fascinating streets of downtown. We souvenir shopped and tried to imagine life 100 years ago. i took a picture at the gas station my grandpa owned 1955, 1956, & 1957. Kyle won $50 playing blackjack at "Wild Bill Hickok's Bar."

There was live entertainment for the weekend event, Wild Bill Days. This was Kyle's favorite place. We stopped at a lake on the way to Mount Rushmore or has kenzie says, "Mount Shmushmore." EVERYONE caught a fish, BIG blue gills.

i enjoyed taking these pictures because of the lighting and the subjects.

Mount Shmushmore almost makes me feel like more of an American. The kids noticed that the side of the RV has a picture of Mount Shmushmore and thought that was pretty cool. At this exact moment we have logged 2162 miles. We just about halfway!

We are almost to Sioux Falls to stay with Kyle's sister, Heather, Keith, and Donovan for the night. It will be nice to be with them! My kids are still awake at midnight as they are super excited to see their cousin Donovan!!!!