Leaving Cali

Ken and I spent the entire morning getting ready for the trip to Colorado last Thursday.  We had the girls pack their suitcases the night before - which was a huge indicator that we need to be more prepared when we get ready for New York - and we finished packing ourselves that morning.  We went to pick up all the ingredients for the trail mix and snacks for the trip rather than stopping all over for snacks, and then we picked up the rental van.  We loaded up, and went to get the girls.


Hindsight is always a wonderful thing.  I carefully planned this trip to the Denver area so we could attend the wedding of Ken's cousin, Robb, to Jessica.  I made sure that I had the hotel reservations, I rented a minivan for a week in order to get the best rate and have a vehicle large enough that the girls wouldn't be stacked on top of each other and fight the entire way, and I had as much of the itinerary of the weekend as possible.  What I didn't have was the knowledge that 16 hours of driving was going to be complete and utter bullshit.  I was ignorant enough to think that we could just drive straight through so long as we took turns.  Yeah, right!

As we set off, the girls were completed excited.  They loved that we had a mini van and they had room to stretch out a bit.  They asked where we were going to eat supper, and I said we were thinking about Las Vegas.  The girls went wild with excitement, and then Taylor & Mandy said, "that's awesome! Just like in The Hangover only you can't get drunk & we don't want Rufies."  I just about died when they said that.


Ken and I were on a roll, so we kept driving.  Ken started losing his mind north of Vegas.  We decided to push through rather than stop since the girls had slept through the first part of the drive.

Jordan was excited to see the "Welcome to Nevada" sign

This is their excitement at being in Las Vegas

Can you see how bored Ken was?  Taking pictures of me driving, really?

We stopped in Mesquite, NV for supper and for the girls to use the bathroom. We got back on the road as soon as possible, and I took to driving again since Ken wasn't feeling well.  The drive wasn't too bad for me until we got through Beaver, Utah.  Of course, I was giggling like an idiot at the name of the place.  I was surprised that we went through a small patch of Arizona for a little while - I so need to remember my geography!  


Everyone slept really well.  Ken tried to stay awake and at least keep me company.  I made it to Green River, Utah before I was just too tired to keep going.  Luckily, Ken was able to drive for a while and give me a break.  

This was the scene in the back of the van for most of the drive

This totally didn't make sense to me, but then I figured it out.  Not used to living in snow.  LOL

We stopped at a rest stop just after No Name, Colorado and I took the driving back over.  I couldn't believe that there just wasn't a name for this city.  Totally funny!!

By the time we arrived in Northglenn, Colorado, I was hallucinating.  I was so happy to see the hotel and park that I was in total euphoric mode.  It took us just over 16 hours for this drive.  Ken wanted to unload everything from the van, and I just wanted to crawl into bed.  I made sure that I posted our arrival on Facebook since I knew Jessica was checking it to be sure we were safe, and then I collapsed into the bed.  


Oh, we definitely split that drive up for the way home!