Durango, CO to Phoenix, AZN

Well, the trip is nearing its end.  Today will be Jake and Mark's last day, so we are going to make the best of it. Luckily, we are driving through Mark's favorite part of the country as he gives a play by play of all the types of rocks and what caused the rock formations.  First stop was Shiprock,New Mexico a "volcanic plug" according to Mark.  To the rest of us it was very cool and unusual rock formation, which Will said brought out his inner pirate. 

After Shiprock we headed to only place in the country where you can be in four states at once.  Will and Jake got a real kick out of putting one leg/arm in each of the four states.

From there we headed to Monument Valley, home to some of the most unique rock formations - but not before grabbing an ice cream sundae at McDonalds.

Nebraska to Durango, Colorado

Today we got up around 9:00 and headed towards Denver.  Not a lot to see in the western part of Nebraska, which worked out well since we needed to get to Phoenix for Mark and Jake's flight home on Thursday. Keeping our focus on nutrition, our first stop was at an IHOP just south of Denver and Yes - we did get a few cinnamon rolls. 

From there we headed to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  We watched a movie in which the first years got yelled at, toured the Visitor's Center, walked over to the campus and took a look at the Chapel.  It was a beautiful day and a great setting at the base of the Rockies.  The scenery probably hadn't changed much since Papa went there over 50 years ago.

After leaving the Academy we made our way over the Rockies.  There was a huge fire nearby which made the sky shine in all sorts of brilliant colors.  Following winding rivers and tree-lined peaks we made it to Durango, where we stayed for the night.

Kansas City to Omaha and Beyond

After waking up in an RV Park just east of Kansas City, we headed to Blue Springs Country Club in Blue Springs, Missouri.  It was a beautiful, private course, which allowed the public to play on certain days throughout the summer - today happened to be one of those days.  The conditions were perfect - although the rough was pretty high making it quite penal if you didn't hit in the fairway.  I think we all shot around even par, took much needed showers in the locker room and got back on the road.

First item on the agenda - find some tasty, Kansas City BBQ.  Using one of those "Internet Machines" we found a place called Oklahoma Joe's.  After zigging and zagging our way to the restaurant, we finally found it - attached to a gas station??  We were a little concerned but parked the RV a couple of  blocks away and decided to give it shot.  We were shocked when we walked into the place!  It was absolutely packed!  There were at least 35 people in line ahead of us - waiting to place their order.  There were articles on the walls identifying OK Joe's as the clear cut winner of serving the best BBQ  not only in Kansas City but all of Missouri and Kansas.  We ordered a little of everything: pulled pork, a full slab of ribs, half a chicken and of course their famous onion rings.  We were not disappointed - the food was fabulous. 

Next stop - Omaha Nebraska.  We arrived in Omaha around 6:30 and made it to TD America Ball Park just in time to see the opening pitch of the game between UCLA and North Carolina State in the College World Series.  The stadium was packed and the atmosphere was electric.  Luckily, the tickets we bought from a scalper put us in the UCLA cheering section, surrounded by many of the players' family and friends.  It was a great place to watch the game and UCLA didn't disappoint as they won the nail biter 2-1.  After the game we headed back to the RV and headed west towards Denver.  Watching the Bruins win a game at the College World Series in Omaha was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

St. Louis to Kansas City

Well the day started off bittersweet.  Haley, Aunt Ann and Gabbie had a 10:30 flight to catch back to Los Angeles.  It was definitely sad to say goodbye but we definitely had a GREAT time with them when they were here.  We are really going to miss Haley as she was not only the scribe for the blogs and a great help with keeping everything organized, she also brought a lot of fun and laughter to the experience.

After leaving the airport, the boys (Will, Jake, Mark and Bill) headed straight for the Six Flags Amusement Park, just outside of St. Louis.  Jake enjoyed his first experience on some of the fastest, twistiest,droppiest roller coasters in the country.  Jake and Will especially enjoyed the log ride, which got them both drenched (on the first and second time they rode it!)  The park was empty - so there were no waits for any of the rides - it was great. Of course, we had to maintain our healthy diet so we shared a huge funnel cake (i.e., Fried Dough with whip cream and strawberry sauce).  The park also had a huge waterpark, which we went to after riding all the roller coasters. After getting our fill of tubing, sliding splashing, we headed back to downtown St. Louis.

Who knew it would be so tough to park a 40 ft., 30,000 pound RV in the heart of the city.  We ended up  parking it an empty lot, near an abandoned building in a rough part of town - and kept our fingers crossed that it would be there when we returned.  Although it was sprinkling outside, we headed to the world famous "Gateway Arch".  Its about 100 feet taller than the Washington Monument and was quite impressive.  The museum under the Arch was also pretty neat as it traced Louis and Clark's trek to the west, the Louisiana Purchase and its impact on the country and much more. 

After that we headed to Busch Stadium to watch the rivalry game between the Cubs and the Cardinals.  The stadium was awesome.  Following a nutritious meal of hot dogs and nachos we settled into our seats and watched the Cards beat the Cubs 5-2.  After the game we were extremely excited to find the RV where we parked it and headed towards Kansas City, where we stayed for the night.  Another fun filled day!!

Chicago, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri

We started off Fathers Day with a nice breakfast near downtown Chicago with all the family. I think everyone enjoyed at least one of the restaurants famous cinnamon rolls (seems to be the main food of the trip.) After breakfast, the group split into two; one headed for Wrigley field and the other towards Michigan Ave. and the John Hancock Observatory. The Wrigley field crew contained mostly boys, with the exception of Aunt Carlye and the Michigan Ave. group contained mostly girls with the exception of Uncle Billy. Both groups found there outings very memorable and fun and enjoyed the company that came along with it. After Departing from Chicago, the RV headed to St. Louis, Missouri to visit our friends, the Veltz. After making a few wrong turns down some narrow streets, we rolled up to there house around 10:30. We stopped in for some pizza, very yummy home-ade cookies, tried some special hometown St. Louis beer, watched a movie, got a friendly greeting by a cop, and rolled out. Today was Haley,  Ann, and Gabbies last day aboard the motor home, and thanks to everyone for making it a very good one!!

Chicago, Illinois

After departing from the the lake early this morning, we started our drive towards Chicago. A few minutes after leaving the lake, we all realized we needed to eat, so we stopped at a restaurant joined with the gas station we stopped at. When we all first walked in, our first instinct was to leave because of a curious odor and a run-down look, but after tasting a bite of their homemade cinnamon roll we knew we had to stay. We all ordered pancakes and such and continued on the road. We eventually rolled into our relatives house around 5:30. We were all so excited to see each other. We started off by taking a few pictures with all the aunts and uncles and cousins and eventually made our way to the backyard where we planned corn toss and played with toys and had a wonderful BBQ. Then the kids watched the movie Cars 2 while the adults chatted. We all eventually found our way to nice, comfy beds. We had a blast seeing everyone and spending time together. Tomorrow we plan on all meeting up again in the morning for breakfast in the city, and then touring around the city and looking at shops and museums and other fun touristy stuff.

Minneapolis

Today in Minneapolis we woke up at the Johnson's House and had a wonderful home-cooked breakfast, the first of this trip, and headed out to the lake. On the lake, we did some very exciting fishing, where Gabbie caught the most of anyone, and went out on the boat for water skiing and tubing. Everybody did there best when waterskiing but some struggled, so we switched to tubing, which everybody had a blast doing! After a fun day out on the lake, we all headed inside to dry and shower off. After, Haley, Will and Bill, hopped in the rental car and drove to the Mall of America to do some shopping and go on the rides. The wrest of the crew stayed and enjoyed fireworks, s'mores, and s'more fishing. From the beautiful weather, to the memories on the lake, our stop in Minneapolis might have been one of the peaks of our trip. Tomorrow, the majority of the day will be spent driving to Illinois. When we arrive, we will be visiting some relatives for a BBQ.