Photo Op

We (the boys and I) went through and picked the best of all our photos to print (what a novel idea) and put into an album that we can share and enjoy without tying up my (the mom's) computer. We narrowed them down considerably from the original pool. All the way down to about 400 photos. (Yikes!)

The boys took some awesome photos themselves. For instance, they documented the fact that they watched videos:





















They played with toys:
















And they goofed off:





















And they captured frustration, when all was not well...

Rockin' out with the guinea pig

This had to be one of the funniest parts of the trip, courtesy of Purple Grandma:

Home Sweet Home

We made it home! I don't have much to say tonight because I'm really, really tired (and the boys are really, really, really tired and already in bed), but I'll update photos, stories, and thoughts from the trip later this weekend.

A few stats for now:

Total miles driven on this trip: 5,025

Total gallons of gas used: 202

Average miles per gallon over the entire trip (highway & city): 25

Total number of hotels in which we stayed: 8

Total number of days away from home: 23

Total number of states driven through: 7

Total number of state capitols driven through: 6

Total number of relatives and friends visited: 11

Highest temperature during our trip: 57 F

Lowest temperature during our trip: 11 F

Highest known elevation traveled: 7,000 feet above sea level

Lowest known elevation traveled: 6 feet above sea level

Number of fire emergencies witnessed: 2

Number of exploding hair conditioner bottles: 1

Total value of trip: priceless

Full Circle

We're back in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not the same hotel (tonight we're staying in a castle!), but it feels like we're very different people than we were just a few weeks ago. Here's our hotel:















We stopped along I-80 in North Platte, Nebraska, for lunch. The sign above the door read, "You are nowhere." (Sorry, I forgot to take a photo.)

I think I could sleep for a week or more. I'm ready to be home, ready to not have to look forward to eight hours of driving each day. I'd never make it as a trucker. :-)

The weather for tomorrow looks promising, but I'm a little worried about road conditions for tomorrow, going across the western half of Iowa and up into Minnesota, toward home.

I'll get pics up, hopefully on Sunday.

Onward and upward, to the last leg of this insane interstate trip. :-)

And please answer our last (?) poll!