DAY 43 SYKES, TN HOMEWARD BOUND

                                DAY 43                                Sat. July 30

We woke up around 8:30 this morning and I made eggs. We are officially headed back home. I will be happy to sleep in my big bed tonight, and to see everyone  but I will miss seeing something different all the time. God has truly blessed us...we have seen more than what most people see in a lifetime. We have had some problems along the way but he kept us safe and worked it all out for us. I think that we all worked together to try to make the best of  every situation that came our way. I am so thankful for all the memories that we have made as a family. Thad really took over with the groceries and helped with the little kids.

The last time behind the wheel for a while

We finally made it to our HOME SWEET HOME.

With family and friends waiting for us. Thank you Lord for letting us make it home safe and thank everyone else for following along with our journey.

DAY 42 WYNNE, ARKANSAS... ALMOST HOME

                                         DAY 42                             Fri.July 29

Thad woke up early again and let us sleep. I think that we are all just ready to be home now. We just don't have anymore time to stop off and find things to do. We just have to truck on down the interstate. There are even more trees and grass the closer that we get to home. The only thing out of the ordinary to mention today is that my family left me at a gas station in Arkansas. I told the kids to watch Paisley and I would be right back because I was going to the bathroom. I came out of the gas station to see that the RV was missing. I thought that Thad had parked on the side to mess with me so I walked around the side and no RV same with the other side . I thought that maybe they had driven across the street to Mcdonald's to get breakfast. I didn't see them there. I didn't have any money or a phone to call them. I went up to the cashier and asked to borrow the phone. She wasn't going to let me until I explained my problem. She let me use her cell phone and I said honey were are you? He said coming back to get you. He said the kids told him that I was still in the bed and then once they got on the road that I wasn't back there. I told him it was almost funny but not really. At 4 months pregnant I just got up and I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. I sat there what seemed like forever before they came back. Even the cashier said how far did they get? I think they had to go to the next exit to turn around. When he got back they hadn't even unlocked the door for me. I said really are you kidding me...you leave me and then you don't even unlock the door to let me in. It is funnier now than it was then..We drove until we got past Little Rock and started looking for a campsite.It gets harder to find the further east that we go. It is so hot you don't see campers in the road like we did before. We found a site in Wynne, Arkansas at Village State Park. It was a nice campsite to be a state park. It is the second largest state park in Arkansas. When we got there, I had laid down with Paisley to get her to sleep. The kids heated up leftovers and I couldn't sleep so I got up. Thad took the kids over to a program that they had about the Trail of Tears and some other things. I watched a movie and hung out until Paisley woke up.I also called my little Mattie Ray to tell her HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  Then we went over to the playground so Paisley could play. Thad and the kids made there way back over and we sat at the playground until we started to sweat. We went back over to the campsite and the boys went fishing while the girls cleaned up on the camper. We showered and watched Wild Hogs again.

                                          The last sticker to be put on our map.

DAY 41 SEMINOLE,OKLAHOMA

                                 DAY 41                        Thurs. July 28

Thad got up early this morning and let us sleep so that we could miss the traffic in Oklahoma City. We decided to stop by Mcdonald's for breakfast to go. We all got our bellies full and then the kids started working on their journals trying to catch up. We drove what seemed like forever and saw a few things along the way . An hour before we made it to Texas we stared to see signs that say free 72oz steak. I just thought that was so interesting because of watching that movie The Great Outdoors. When he ate that huge steak. I looked up the rules on the internet and it was  a whole meal that you had to eat. Shrimp cocktail, steak, potato, and roll. It must be a big attraction though because those signs are everywhere. It said that the oldest person to eat it was 69 and the youngest was 11.

Look at little Al Bundy...she fell asleep with her hand in her pants. After I got her to sleep I came back up front and the kids said that we had passed the Cadillac ranch. It is 6 cars almost buried in the dirt.  

We made it to Oklahoma and we are still trucking down the road. There really hasn't been anything to see but it is hard to take it all in when you are trucking so hard down the road. It is getting close to time to be home and we have much choice.

Kali set up front with her daddy and she pointed to everything that she wanted me to take a picture of. She saw this truck driving backwards and said that it was so cool so I had to take a picture.

We started looking for a campsite a little past Oklahoma City so we could get miss traffic tomorrow. We found a place called Catfish Roundup RV Park. They have a restaurant and a playground and that is about it. We just need a spot for tonight so that is o.k.

 We are ready to get home now, we are just driving each day and there is nothing to see on the interstate. We are starting to see more trees and grass than before. It is getting even hotter the closer that we get to home. I told Thad that it was to hot to cook tonight. We headed over to the restaurant for supper. They had a huge aquarium that had  2 HUGE catfish. It was funny because Thad ordered catfish and Kali was tore up...she kept saying that the catfish is too big to eat. She thought they were going to get it out of the aquarium.Thad and  I ate everything on our plates and we took the kids leftovers home for lunch tomorrow. We headed back over to the playground and then a movie and bed.

DAY 40 ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

                                DAY 40                                               Wed. July 27

We woke up and as I started to make a big breakfast, we realized that the lighter that I needed for the stove went out. Mitchell was so disappointed that he wasn't going to get his eggs but that is life. We all grabbed something quick and headed out on the road. We drove for most of the day to try to get past Albuquerque. We like to get past the big cities so that we don't get stuck in traffic. We saw alot of desert and very few animals.

This is a statue of a lizard with 2 heads.

This was sooooo funny...Alexa and Mitchell were laying here playing music on the computer and when Alexa got up, Paisley got her seat. She thought that it was so funny. We were going to try to get to Santa Rosa, NM. They have a place called Blue Hole and the water is super blue and people come here from all over to scuba dive. It looks really neat. Well, plans change so fast when you are on the road.. we hit traffic at Albuquerque. We decided to turn around and go to a campsite just a few exits back so that we are not stuck in traffic too long. It is still 2 hours to Santa Rosa and who knows how long that it will take to get through the wreck. We stayed at a place called American RV Park. It had a pool and a playground and full hook ups. After 30 minutes of playing, the boys came back to the RV. Thad and Paisley had laid down for a nap. I decided to get everyone out of the RV so they could sleep. We went to do laundry and to the pool. The boys didn't want to get back in the pool so they played on their ipods. I sit on the side while Kali floated in the pool. Sissy decided to join her after the sun went down.

We have been trying to limit her time in the sun so that her face can heal completely. It looks so much better. She has been such a sweetheart about the whole thing. She hasn't let it ruin her trip. After Paisley woke up they came over to the pool for awhile. Then they headed back to start the grill for supper. Mitchell took Paisley for a bike ride and we walked around to look at the little bunny rabbits that hopped everywhere.

 When we got back to the camper, the grill wasn't started. Thad  said that they have a rule that you cannot use charcoal here because of a risk of fire. I brought the chicken inside to cook it and we ate supper. The kids are working on their journals. They have once again got behind and have to work double time to get them finished and we all headed to bed.

DAY 39 WILLIAMS, ARIZONA AND THE GRAND CANYON

DAY 39                                      Tues. July 26

We woke up early with plans to ride the train up to The Grand Canyon. I told Thad that I might have to stay behind with the girls. Kali had me up all night sick with a stomach virus. We drove over to the depot where you park for the train. Thad went over to get our tickets and I started breakfast. Kali woke up and she seems to be feeling better. She ate some toast and had a sprite and said she was ready to get on the train. We decided to take the train and hope for the best. We walked across the street and they had a wild west show before boarding. Kali got to pet the horse so she was happy. The show was funny and we took pictures with one of the bad guys and then boarded the train.

Laura, Mitchell say to tell uncle Rob that he wishes he could be here with him because he knows how much that he loves trains. Once we boarded the train, a guy came around singing to entertain us. He wasn't much of a singer but he was funny.


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The girls loved it.





This was the sheriff. Thad told him that Kali didn't like the law. She would only smile and roll her tongue around in her mouth. She wouldn't say one word to him. It was so funny. We saw 2 deer and a jackrabbit along the way. It was a 2 hour ride to the Grand Canyon but we took pop corn for Paisley to help the ride not be so miserable. We made it to the canyon and it was still raining but only a sprinkle. We walked over to get our first look and this is all that we could see....FOG.

We decided to not get upset because we have 3 hours to spend here before we board the train. We walked over to the food court to get us something to eat. It is funny because Thad had a burger, Lawson had a sub, Alexa had a taco salad, and Mitchell had tacos. That is all stuff that we have eaten along the way. I decided to have something different. I had pasta and it was good. Paisley and Kali had pretzels and ketchup, yuck. Kali stopped at that but Paisley ate alot of my pasta and some of everyone else's food. We walked back over and stopped in a few shops to escape the rain. We also got to see the canyon. Most of the fog was gone, it is still not the perfect picture but we are happy to see anything but just fog.

Well we walked around a bit more and then headed to the train. I was ready for a nap but Paisley has been asleep on Thad's shoulders for awhile and just woke up and I am sure that she will not go back to sleep. We are on the train and they have another singer to entertain us. He is a better singer but not as loud and I am dosing in and out of sleep. I woke up and not long after I hear everyone gasping and saying look. Thad bought the tickets and I had no idea that there was going to be a mock train robbery. Paisley is saying

OH NO



Here is everyone looking at the robbers.



Here is one of the robbers. Kali didn't care for this at all...Then the sheriff came by and ask her which way the robbers went. She still wouldn't talk to him. 

Kali started to get sleepy and she got in Thad's lap and fell asleep. He had to carry her back to the RV across the road where we were parked. I told him that he just thought that Paisley was heavy wait until we got across the road... Kali was really heavy. We headed over to the store to pick up a few things and got on Route 66 coming back to check it out. We saw a diner that was really cute.

We headed back to the RV for more Dukes of Hazard and supper.

Alexa drew and painted a rose.  Then off to bed.