7/26/17 Time to go Home

Last night we gave the kids an option, drive at a leisurely pace to Albuquerque New Mexico and get home Thursday or wake up before the crack of dawn and attempt to make the entire 12 hour drive in one day. The later would require us to limit our stops and make them quick and relied on older kids making the trip fun for Peter. He was our wild card, usually the first to announce that he was ready to be out of the car. The kids were excited to get home to see Gram and Papa and Becca B and to sleep in their own beds.

And so before 5:30 am we said goodbye to the Birdie Suite. Heavenly Father seemed ready for us to be home. Unusually breakfast in this place starts at 5:30 am. That helped us jump start the day. We were on the road, with a full tank of gas by 6:30 AM. That is certainly a record for us.

Heidi thinks this may be Pike's Peak.

As we started I was worried that we would not be able to keep up the pace needed in order to get to Mesa at a reasonable time. We told the kids that if we were going to make it we had to speed up the potty stops. Usually we have to wait for people to put shoes on and somebody blocks the door. Then we we get out Peter would refuse to get back into his car seat. There was none of that today. Our past rest stops would typically take at least 30 minutes, 45 minutes to an hour were more likely. Our first potty stop today took 10 minutes total. I wanted to ask the kids for 2 forms of ID. At the 2nd stop the kids were back in buckles 5 minutes after getting out. This gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, this was going to work.

We made good time through New Mexico. At one point we went 3 hours between stops. That has to be a record. We listened to John Bytheway talks on CD and the first audio book in the 39 Clues Series by Rick Riordan (known for his Percy Jackson series). This held the kid's attention for many hours.

Around the halfway point we made it to Arizona. There was still a chance that we would stay the night at a KOA but thus far the kids were traveling well.

The rain that slowed us several times this trip was no trouble today. Only once did we see rain, and even then it was way off in the distance.

Based on other days on this trip we estimated that 7 pm was the earliest we might get back home. That was if everything went well. If anything slowed us 9 or 10 was possible. If that became likely we would have had to stop and resume the journey in the morning. As it was the kids were amazing. We got everyone a frosty in Payson and told them that this could be our last stop before home. It turned out to be true. Papa took this picture of our tired but happy crew. It has been a wonderful trip. I wish it could go on but it is time to be home. Heidi, before we left, felt that she would be asked to attend a meeting tomorrow. She was officially asked to go on Tuesday. No official calling yet but that may not be too far out. At any rate she'll be able to attend and feel rested.