We pulled into Arizona last night and it was 77 degrees. That may not seem like a big deal for most, but I have never unpacked our car after a summer roadtrip at the end of July in less than triple digit temperatures. It was unseasonably cool and absolutely beautiful and the perfect way to end our summer roadtrip.
Here’s a recap:
We were gone for 35 days. (40 days if you count the Lake Powell trip just before we left that we had to drive home after – we usually head straight to Idaho from Powell.)
We drove 4465 miles.
We filled up at 16 gas stations.
Visited three states: Idaho, Oregon and Utah.
Stayed in two hotel rooms.
Attended one memorial service.
We packed the Thule 9 separate times.
Sent two kids to summer sports camps; Hallie to tennis and Hunter to soccer.
We saw a minimum of 21 roadkill – 13 of those were deer. Poor bambi.
Bennett read 14 books. (Luckily, he’s not our car sick kid!) And I listened to/read 3 books. He beat me by a long shot.
We found 48 out of the 50 state license plates. We were so close to all 50 this year, closer than we’ve ever been. Sadly we missed Delaware and Rhode Island which I’m pretty sure we’ve missed every year – but surprisingly we always manage to find a Hawaii. Go figure.
Watched two tennis tournaments; one for Hallie and one for Hallie and Hunter.
Tried two new restaurants in Utah – we were first timers to Cubby’s and Super Chix – both had delicious fries which is the best way to judge a restaurant. The jury also decided that Zipz is better than LaBeau’s at Bear Lake. This is not up for discussion – just our observation! 🙂
Watched 15 Phoenix Suns playoff/finals games.
We explored rivers, streams, lakes, mountains and caves.
We listened to our road trip playlist more times than I can even count. And when someone even suggested we listen to something else, it was not well received by the rest of the car. Needless to say, we all have 24 songs memorized and know the exact order.
Hallie drove 5 of the 17 hours to get to my parents house. She didn’t always love the freeway driving (especially in Utah and Idaho when it’s 80 mph) but she got a lot of great experience clocked.
We made it home just in time to celebrate Steve’s birthday, meet the teachers for school and make a Target run for school supplies. School starts next week and we are ready!
