Big Trip West - Day Five, Not a good one

We left North Platte late since we were trying to decide what to do about the high winds we were about to face. That and I only got four hours of sleep since Sam was up with gas. We finally decided to aim for Cheyenne - not very far but the last stop before heading into mountains with 50 mph winds. Not long after we left I started feeling queasy. And tired. We made it to Sydney, NE for lunch and the winds started up. Robert fought the winds with the boat trailer the rest of the way to Cheyenne. I fought feeling bad. As we approached Cheyenne, the local weather station said not to take small trailers west of Cheyenne so we felt good in our decision. We got here about 2 and got into a hotel room. Robert packed up the kids and took them to the mall to play. I fell into the bed. After sleeping about an hour, my stomach was full fledged angry. Why me?? I finally started feeling a little better about 10 last night and slept good, at least. We're still looking at how far we are going to try to get today. We're heading over the mountains and it's supposed to snow a little. The wind is almost gone, thankfully. Not that it matters too much if we don't get very far today - you can't get to Fort Lewis at the moment anyway. All roads are closed into the area due to flooding. We have to wonder, is it us?

Big Trip West - Day Four, The First REAL Day

So today was really the first real day of traveling west with both cars and the boat. We did 400 miles today, hopefully our longest day, and made it to North Platte, Nebraska. The Army gives you 400 for the first day and 350 after that, which is how we came up with six days. Then we just divided it out. But with the boat, that is about as far as we can go. Kids did pretty well with Thomas, Nemo and Lightning McQueen. We'll see what happens when they grow tired of the movies.

Robert got pulled over for not having a license plate on the boat trailer. You don't have to in KS or TN but you do in NE. The guys just wanted to check out why and be sure he owned it. Plus with a car registered in TN and a boat registered in KS, it all looks strange. Hope that doesn't happen again tomorrow. It puts us behind! It got me to thinking that they probably see some crazy stuff coming down I-80. It's not real crowded, which would make it prime for crime. I must have seen 4 or 5 troopers this afternoon. Nice to know they are doing their job.

Tomorrow it's on to Wyoming. We originally planned to make it to Rawlings but the weather looks very windy tomorrow. That's tough with the boat and some of the hills we'll be hitting. We may just go to Laramie and stop before the first pass and hope the front moves on through tomorrow night.

Oh, I forgot

Two more things - Jordan is doing much better. She got frolicy today and is barely limping now.

And two, I DID manage to get a cute pic of the kids on Christmas Eve. I will have to resume my Christmas pictures after the trip. But in case you were curious...

The Big Trip West - Day Three, Going Nowhere

Yes, we are still at Leavenworth. But the Jeep is fixed and we are mostly loaded up. Another blessing to having this happen here was that Robert took it to the dealer (which he was regretting a bit this morning) and it turned out that most of the fix was covered under the powertrain warranty. So we paid less than we would have if some random person had fixed it.
We had a fun day, despite the delay. We spent most of the day at a shopping area called The Legends. We ate lunch at T-Rex and the kids played in the dig a dinosaur part. We then went to the bookstore and played with the trains. On our way out we made a run to Cold Stone Creamery (a day can never be bad when you get Cold Stone!) We were about 5 mintues from town when the dealer called that the Jeep was ready. So we picked it up, came back and rested and then started packing up. We're finishing up some Chinese take-out and about to start the bedtime process. We hope to get out early tomorrow and make it to North Platte, Nebraska. Stay tuned!

The Big Trip West, Day Two - First Wrinkle

Call it Murphy's Law or whatever you want, but we're already being delayed a day. After running all morning to get it all done so we could leave this afternoon, Robert found a leak of some sort of fluid on the tire of the Jeep. I can't remember what it is but it doesn't really matter. He ran it right down to the shop but of course they can't get to it until tomorrow. So we'll be at Leavenworth another day. The good thing was first, that the sun was hitting the tire just right so that he could see it dripping on the tire. Second, that we were somewhere that we knew right where to take it. Third, that we were not left on the side of the road somewhere, or worse, we didn't mess up the axle while pulling the boat. Fourth, we're in a familiar place where we can entertain ourselves. And fifth, we have plenty of time to get to Lewis so we're not stressed over making up the day. So, while we have been delayed, there are a lot of things to be thankful for. Hopefully tomorrow I can report that the Jeep is fixed and we are ready to go. Stay tuned...

The Big Trip West, Day One

For those of you who aren't used to long-haul PCS moves, today started the 2400 mile journey from Jackson, Tennessee (where we spent Christmas) to Fort Lewis, Washington (where we will live for the next bit). We did 500 miles today from Jackson back to Leavenworth, Kansas but don't let that fool you. We only had one car for this leg so it was much easier and faster. Tomorrow Robert will do his final clearing and we will gather all our other stuff to take west - the Jeep, the boat, and a pile of stuff at my dear friend Laura's house. Then the real work begins on Tuesday - 1900 miles, two cars, a boat, two kids and a dog across the northern plains in the winter. Six days of adventure! Sound appealing to anyone? And, I might add, that the dog is injured. Jordan seems to have sprained a front leg a few days ago and it hobbling around. Hopefully with the resting on the journey, she will improve. She is already better tonight. Just hope the colder weather doesn't make it worse.

Today wasn't too bad but Robert did the driving and I just rode along and tended to the kids. After today, it will be me and the kids and the dog. Usually Jordan rides with Robert but with the injury we don't think she can hop up into the Jeep. So I have all three. He just has the boat! The kids watched movies and played. Sam slept a long time after getting up at 4:30 this morning.

So as you go about your business this week, think about us and say a prayer for us all - we'll need it!

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve. Gabby and I took lunch over to my grandma's house and spent a little while over there. Then we went and did a little last minute shopping (you have to go out on Christmas Eve!) After a little rest, we went to communion and then ate some supper. Then it was time for the one Christmas Eve gift. Gabby and Sam got matching jammies. So Daddy riled them up for a while and then Mommy decided to take their picture together by the tree. Does that look like a good plan to you??