Swim team ended in mid-July. That meant it was time for our annual summer road trip with D and the four J-boys. In the past few years we have gone on camping/road trips to
Colorado Bend State Park in Texas,
Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, and
Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We started this year's trip on July 24th, we had to wait to leave until I got off work at 4pm. Since we had such a late start, we decided to only go about an hour's drive away to D's mom's house for our first night.
The boys ran around and burned off some energy. I love this picture of them playing in Gigi's yard.
The next morning, we hopped in the car and headed towards Amarillo, Texas. First stop on our road adventure was
Cadillac Ranch, an art installation of Cadillac cars partially buried in the ground. People come from all over to add their own version of art to the cars with cans of spray paint.
Unfortunately, the ground was REALLY muddy around most of the cars. Only two cars could be easily accessed without slogging through mud.
The mud did not matter, the boys were ready to paint!
They all climbed up inside this car.
J4 (4-yr-old) declared this our "Best Trip EVER" after he painted the cadillacs. Boogs said he totally enjoyed stopping by Cadillac Ranch. He thought it was a lot of fun painting the cars any way he wanted to. The boys all left Cadillac Ranch with a bit of paint stuck to their hair, skin, or clothes. I left with extremely muddy shoes.
For some reason, our first full day of travel always seems the longest. With five boys in the car, ages 4 to 13, we stopped for bathroom breaks and/or food every hour. We were thrilled to finally see the sign showing we had crossed into Colorado. Of course we had to get out and take a pic with the sign.
After we crossed the Colorado state line, we decided to stop for dinner. There were not a lot of choices, so we ended up at a gas station that also served Subway sandwiches. There weren't any tables inside. We felt a bit conspicuous but we sat out front of the gas station to eat our dinner. A local police officer stopped in at the gas station. He gave us a look and a head nod but did not comment on our loitering.
We packed the boys back in the car to continue on towards our first camping spot,
John Martin Reservoir outside of Hasty, Colorado. It was completely dark when we arrived at our campsite. The entire place smelled like cow manure. After the long ride in the car and the awful smell, J4 declared this the "Worst trip EVER". It was pretty funny. I was happy to spend only one night there. The smell was better the next morning. It was a beautiful place. There was a lovely lake on the other side of the dam.
We stopped at a little cafe for breakfast. Oh man, it took almost an hour to get served our breakfast. We really had not planned on it taking so long. After breakfast, we got back on the road for our loooong drive to Yellowstone in Wyoming.
One of the things we do to keep ourselves entertained in the car is to play the Horse game. Whenever anyone sees a horse, they yell "HORSE" and that horse gets counted for their points. The object of the game is to spot the most horses and get the most points. Whenever someone sees a cemetery, they have to be the first person to yell "Bury your horses!" That causes everyone in the car to lose their horses except the person who yelled "bury your horses". It is a silly game but you would be amazed at the hours of fun we have had with it. The game makes the children look outside the window at the passing countryside. We don't take electronics (tvs, video players, handheld games) on our trips with the boys. The horse game helps pass the time in the car.
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Cadillac ranch looks like such fun! Would love to visit there if i ever make it to that part of the states.
ReplyDeleteCadillac Ranch was a nice hour long stop on our trip. It was fun.
DeleteCadillac ranch sounds amazing and great fun. Hehe at loitering for your subways. I can't stand poor service. Hope the hour delay at breakfast didn't put you behind too much. #countrykids
ReplyDeleteThere was a group of teenagers loitering at the front of the gas station. They left when the police car showed up. I thought that was funny.
DeleteThat horse game sounds like a good idea to play with my kids! We have a long drive coming up this weekend so will test it out although I'm not sure we'll see many cemeteries. The road trip sounds great, would love to visit Yellowstone some day. #countrykids
ReplyDeleteThere were little green "cemetery" signs along some of the highways that gave us advanced warning to get ready to yell "bury your horses". We saw the most cemeteries in Texas.
DeleteIt looks like your first couple of days on the road were full of fun and adventure, you managed to pick some great places to stop on the way. Cadillac Ranch looks like a brilliant place to stop and explore, it's great that Boogs gets to explore the country like this. Thanks for linking up with me on Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting Country Kids. Yes, I think it is wonderful that Boogs gets the opportunity to see more of the U.S. These trips also let him get a taste of what it is like to have siblings. He fits right in with the J-boys.
DeleteLoving the horse game. That's a new one to me!
ReplyDeleteFrom the photos it looks like it's been worth the long journey and lengthy breakfast waits!
The scenery on our trip was beautiful.
DeleteThe boys are really good car travelers. The Pokemon book got passed around a lot between the seats. It was hilarious listening to the 4-yr-old yell, "Hoooooooooooooooooorse!"
ReplyDeleteAn interesting idea for an art installation, shame about the mud though #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky enough to have room for the kids to paint on the cars out of the mud.
DeleteThe Cadilllac Ranch looks great fun, what an imaginative way to get creative. I am going to use your horse game when we travel, it will make a welcome what from i-spy!
ReplyDeleteBe prepared for unexpected yelling of the word HORSE!
DeletePainting, dpoing graffiti freely is so much fun to do! this is such a lovely adventure! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteIt was fun.
DeleteI know my son would love the cadillac park. What a great idea. Your road trip sounds like a fab way to explore. I bet you had fun setting the schedule. We don't take electronic entertainment either. So much to spot. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteWe had fun planning the trip. We ended up driving just under 4000 miles by the time we returned home.
DeleteLove the horse game, must remember that one, we tend to play 20 questions :) Sounds like your first couple of days were great. Love those cars! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteI hope you will have fun playing Horse. In a smaller group, I love to play 20 questions in the car but it is difficult to get all 5 boys attention in the car for that game.
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