We're setting our alarms for WHEN?!

Sunday morning was an early one. We roused the kids out of bed at about 5:30am (4:30am Phoenix time!). They were still tired from staying up so late the night before, but they were troopers. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel and hit the road at about 6:30.  We crossed our second state line at about 9am

We have made many stops for gas so far. As I pump twenty dollar bills into the tank, I marvel at myself for how brilliant I was by getting the cargo thing on the top. It’s like I said to myself, “Self, this vehicle is ginormous and the gas mileage is terrible. Is there something we could do to make it worse?” God I’m a genius.

We got into Castle Rock, Colorado at about 12:30pm. My sister-in-law, Kristin, her husband Noah, my niece Kayla, and my nephews Connor and Steven live there. It is great that we get spend some time with them.  After lunch, we headed out to Littleton, Colorado, which is about 30 minutes away from Castle Rock. Ron and JoAnn, the parents of my best man at my wedding, live there. They used to live right around the corner from my family when I lived in Albuquerque, and I have known them for about 35 years. I spent almost as much time at their house as I did my own. I probably owe them thousands of dollars for groceries...is there a statute of limitations for that kind of thing? Their daughter and her family were at the house, too. We spent a couple of hours there, and it was wonderful to catch up with them. We will be meeting up with their son Scott, my best man, when we pass through Portland.

Ashley, Haley, Rita (Scott's sister,), Eric (Rita's husband), Katie (Eric&Rita's daughter), Ron (Scott's dad), Keith (Eric&Rita's son), me, JoAnn (Scott's mom), Sherri, Emily

After we got back, we had some yummy lasagna that Kristin made for us. When that settled, Haley, Kayla, and I decided to go on a run. Connor rode his bike alongside us. I haven’t been running in quite a while, but the fear of getting dusted by a 12 and 15 year old (and subsequently heckled by my 13 year old nephew) got me moving.  The weather was beautiful, and I spent some time not missing the Phoenix heat. We ran three miles and I managed to keep up with them. I spent most of the time running right next to Haley, and we had some great quality time together. I feel so blessed to be getting this time with my family.