On the Road to Colorado

Today, after Ethan's football game, we headed out on our trip to Colorado. With the van packed (for two weeks away from home) we were packed to the gills (we had everything from flip-flops to snow boots and even packed the kid's Halloween costumes and buckets as we will be gone over the holiday).  The kids were excited to be on the adventure and couldn't wait to see what was in their travel bins.  

We ended up getting on the road around 12:15 PM (Ethan had a morning football game at 10:00 AM and when they got home we had to pack a few last items) so the 11 hours on the road was going to make it a long day.  

We made it the first 4 hours without stopping, as Everett and Elliot both fell asleep after having a light lunch, and Ethan was happy doing his LIFE Academy embroidery in the backseat.  

Everett was the first to fall asleep and Elliot was entertained by books and his socks.

It really was a pretty uneventful drive, except for a few fails when we stopped for road food.  Our first stop was in Kerney, NE.  We needed gas and there was a Jimmy John's a few miles down the road from the gas station.  When we arrived there it was closed for renovation, so we tossed a few more cheese sticks and peanut butter crackers at the kids and continued on our journey.

The next stop was in Sterling, Colorado, where we thought we could get gas and Quiznos.  We got gas, but Quiznos was no longer in business... so again, another fail.  We moved on, again tossing some snacks to the back of the van to tie the kids over until we could find something else.

Our first food stop was at Chick-fil-a, right outside of Denver, and everyone was happy to have some food in their bellies (although at the checkout we were told they were out of ketchup).  So we drove over to McDonald's to grab a few of their packets before getting back on the road.

Driving through the mountains in the dark was really nothing exciting, except for Derrick had me grabbing the side of the van door a few times, bracing myself with the speed he took some of the turns, and Elliot was shouting from the backseat "I see a mountain!  There is a mountain!" about every 10 seconds as our headlights would illuminate a rock cliff wall, so we were happy when we pulled into the condo.

We arrived in Frisco around 10:30 PM MST, so overall we made good time.

The condo is just like we remembered it, comfortable and spacious.  We are looking forward to a relaxing week with friends in Colorado!