Massive Road Trip, Part 2

I realized that I had not completed my road trip post from last year, and in the spirit of finishing what I start, here is the rest of the story...


After we met up with my folks, we spent a few days with them, going to a reunion, seeing my grandmother on my mom's side, which was nice.

We headed to Altoona and spent a few really wonderful days with my Uncle Clayton, Aunt Barb, and cousin Caleb (who I hadn't seen since he was about 8, and who was just graduating from High School)

We helped prep for the coolest graduation party I've ever even heard of, got to see some elementary school teachers I hadn't seen in almost 30 years, and spent several days camping in their field and swimming in their pool.

Our kids really enjoyed the pool and the whole place was great.

From PA, we bee-lined it across West Virginia and ended up staying the night in southern Illinois at Lincoln Trail State Park.

That was only a one-night stop-over, and then we headed to Abilene, Kansas and spent the last few days of our trip with Nancy's extended family. The kids played with their cousins, we were able to visit with Nancy's sister and grandmother quite a bit which was nice.

Then we headed home to Colorado!

We hit a little weather on the way home (see the slide show from my previous trip post) but otherwise made it back with a TON of great memories and much closer as a family.

I can say now, 6+ months later, that this trip has had a really positive effect on our family. I think it was a bit of a turning point for me, shifting my primary focus from work to my family in real, tangible ways.

We're planning an even bigger trip for this summer, with our new camper. The big change will be that I will take time every couple of days to really check in and work, so things at the office continue to run smoothly. I'd love to be able to NOT work at all for the duration of the trip, but I think this will resolve some problems from last year's trip, primarily in the amount of catch-up that was needed once I returned.

I'll try and post more often here, now that the new year is upon us.

Thanks for reading!