The Long Journey (to our new) Home - Part I

On December 21st, 2008, we set out in our two cars - loaded down with stuff and the girls - to drive the 2200 miles from Dallas to Ft. Lewis, Washington. We had split the trip into smaller - bite-size pieces, so we wouldn't be overwhelmed - or at least that was the plan... The first day went smoothly. We drove from Dallas to Midland, TX where our friends Erin and Jason live. We were thrilled that her parents were in town visiting for Christmas! We had not seem them in such a long time. We enjoyed visiting with Dave and Debbie and talking about all the plans now being made for Erin and Jason's newly discovered little one on the way. Debbie and Erin even had Anais help make cookies. She was so happy to be a "helper" - and I'm glad the girls were patient with my little girl.

The next day, Dec 22, we headed out of Midland - well rested and ready for a longer drive for this second stretch. It was a good 7 hours in the car - me with the two girls the whole time. I say this, almost complaining, but I was offered a switch many times and never took it. The reason I opted into the crying and backyardigan watching marathon was because I was terrified to drive Francois' car (with its summer tread tires) through what I knew would be ice eventually. On top of that - Francois' car only had one functioning mirror - and it was his driver's side mirror... hmmm... don't have to be a genius to see that i actually ended up with the better end of that deal. =)

The scenery on this trip was some of the best I have seen... just breathtaking sometimes - even the clouds looked like they were dancing.

The land in west Texas was so flat, but by the time we started rolling into New Mexico, the hills started a-rollin'.

We barely passed through Colorado... but I felt obliged to include their welcome sign in our trip journal. =) The very little we saw was beautiful. Rock formations are COOL.