Our Expedition Expedition!

Last Friday, hubby and I took off to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to pick up the Ford Expedition we are buying from my parents. It was our first time away from the boys overnight and it felt like we were dating again- no responsibilities, no little ones to feed or entertain! Here's a little bit of our three day road trip!

A good family friend, "Aunt Nise," picked us up from the airport and took us to her house in Broken Arrow (where the Expedition was parked). We visited for a few minutes and then hit the road...


We stopped in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, just outside of Tulsa, to grab a bite to eat at Carl's Jr.- in honor of my little brother B. He's a big fan.

We really enjoyed the open landscapes of Oklahoma- and the quiet. It's been a long time since we've traveled without two little ones in carseats requesting "Bob & Larry" or "Blues Clues."

That first afternoon/evening we drove to Hays, Kansas. Luckily, we found a hotel room for the night, despite the fact that the Special Olympics were taking place nearby and many places were booked! We found a great restaurant/brewery in downtown Hays that had some live music. We were exhausted, but so happy to be enjoying each other without interruptions!

This was a really neat old homestead on the trip. We thought Kansas was beautiful.

Saturday morning, we continued our trek across Kansas and into Colorado. We stopped in Fort Collins and walked around their Historic Downtown and enjoyed some Ben & Jerry's icecream. Unfortunately, we didn't take pics while we were there, so this is all we have to show for it... Too bad, really, because the mountains in Colorado are incredible and we both love Fort Collins. Just imagine a restored downtown area with lots of people out and about enjoying the 70-degree weather on St. Patricks Day!

We continued on into Wyoming- it was gorgeous! We stayed that second night in Rawlins, Wyoming.




















Here she is... our "new" expedition- looks like she's enjoying that Wyoming vista, too- huh?

We learned a couple of things on Sunday during our drive through Wyoming. Mainly, we learned not to trust any of their all important roadsigns. Mainly the signs that tell you how far until the next "services," which translates "fuel."

According to the gauge on the Expedition, we had around 40 miles left before Empty, so we started looking for an exit with gas. We passed up one option that was a gas station/exotic dancer/bar building. The signs said that there were more services 16 miles away. Since we supposedly had over 30 miles until empty, we kept going. When we got to that exit, however, the station was closed. Not just closed, but the gas pumps had been removed altogether. Yikes! By this time, the gauge was reading 5 miles until empty! To say that I was nervous is an understatement. The signs showed that the next services were 20 miles away (and I was hoping that was accurate). At this point, it didn't look like we even had enough gas to go back to the exotic dancer station. We decided to continue heading west for as long as possible, and then we'd have to call our roadside assistance (available through our American Express Gold card). So, I kept careful tabs on the gauge- which quickly showed 0 miles to empty- and the cell phone coverage that we had. Luckily, most of the miles were downhill. Thankfully, we made it to the Conoco station at Point of Rocks, Wyoming. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see a gas station! We put in 26 gallons of gas- the exact amount that the tank holds, according to the owners manual! Whew, a little too much excitement for me!

We also learned that Wyoming doesn't have very good signage for scenic overlooks. Later that morning, we drove about 40 miles out of our way and never saw the turnout for the overlook for Flaming Gorge. It was a nice drive, but we didn't get to see what we set out to see!

Despite the excitement that Wyoming held for us, we pressed on into Utah! The canyon we drove through was amazing- so rich in color with the clay-colored rocks and the green vegetation. The pictures never do it justice!








We arrived back in Boise right about 8pm Sunday. It was a long trip (over 1500 driving miles), but so fun to be together- to see the landscapes, to stop at the visitors centers, to listen to music, and books on tape together, to just hold hands while we're cruising across the West! We were so excited to see the boys- although they had so much fun without us that they didn't want to go home!

Thanks to our dear sweet friends K&J and D&T for your help with the boys. We appreciate you taking care of them and loving on them while we had a great 3-day road trip together! I suppose the next time we head out on the open road, we'll bring the kiddos with us- we're pretty familiar with which rest stops have playgrounds now!