Great American Road Trip: Day 3
Day 3 was a lot of driving. Ten hours to be exact!
I was so glad that we split up this trip. First of all, I have no idea how anyone could drive 25 hours straight, but also, I think 10 hours in the car is pretty much our limit.
We all were pretty crabby by the time we got to our destination, El Paso!
Thankfully our hotel in Oklahoma City had breakfast so we all had a high protein breakfast before we left...by the way if you are wondering, yes, the kids do sometimes hate that I make them eat so healthy. 'Tis life!
We were planning on going to the Oklahoma Science museum but to our surprise the kids just wanted to hit the road. Weird! So that's what we did!
On the outskirts of town we stopped at MACU, one of our churches colleges, and drove around. We took a picture of Emma there. You never know where she'll want to go to school!
Then we drove on, and on and on. So I guess it was okay it was dark the night before in OK because we got to see plenty of it on Day 3!
When we got into Texas we started to see rockier soil and cactus which the kids were so thrilled to see! So thrilled we got out at the side of the Interstate to take a picture. Nick's saying "we're on the Interstate!" and when I was taking the kids photo the kids are telling me "um, dad's driving away" in Nicholas' typical I'm going to fake you out fashion.
Oh how I love our little family! After that we discussed the topography and how there's no line where the black soil ends and red begins and then red turns into dessert but it's more of a gradual process. I know I'm such a dork but I love that the kids can learn while we are traveling. It's been such an experience to see them finally "get it". Even in homeschooling where learning is more one on one, it still is not often times in real life. That's just not practical. But when it can be, amazing things happen!
Anyway, we stopped in a small town where we stretched our legs and the kids played on the playground. It felt good to soak in some sun and fresh air but it was still so cold!
Then more driving. Are you sensing a theme here? It was super boring. Emma and I both get carsick when reading otherwise I would have spent the whole time with my nose in a good book!
The kids entertained themselves with allotted DS time, writing in their travel journal, doodling, doing mad-libs, and one time we let them watch a movie. I have been noticing that the less opportunities I give them to use DVD players or their game systems, the less they seem to care if they play them or not. Hallelujah!
We arrived in El Paso about 10 our time, and 8 in El Paso time. Our Apple maps pulled up a list of nearby restaurants so we chose Pei Wei. The authentic welcome to El Paso meal is Chinese food, right? We all were laughing about that but it sounded good to everyone and it hit the spot!
Calvin got wonton soup which he kept describing as heavenly. "You should try some Em. The noodly part is just heavenly and the meat is heavenly. The whole thing is heavenly."
After the Chinese food we had about half an hour of driving through El Paso to get to our hotel. El Paso by the way has a ton of people! I would liken it to the citys of Philly or Indy. That size. The drive was really great because Nick, who has been here lots of times, pointed things out to us and we got to see the mountains.
When we got to the hotel, I think it took us three trips with the luggage trolley to bring everything in...there was a lot of stuff! But for a family of four who is homeschooling and staying somewhere for three weeks, I guess a lot of stuff is required!
It feels so good to be settled and to have everything in its right place!
Now, onto Day 4!