"The Big Trip Out West" Begins

For months we prepared for what became known as "The Big Trip Out West." Even the littlest referred to it always as "The Big Trip Out West." However, "The Big Trip Out West" is a long thing to type over and over, so from here on out, it will be abbreviated as TBTOW.

Anyway, TBTOW was to accomplish three things: 1) visit family, 2) see beautiful sights, and 3) include a Higher Things conference for my oldest son and my husband. We thoroughly accomplished each goal.

The trip began after church on July 1st. We'd packed everything the day before, so after church we ate lunch, cleaned up, and left. Our destination for Day 1 was Ohio. Grandma's house. Truly a worthy destination. The kids were so excited; in fact, this was the spot many of them were looking forward to most.

Once we were on the road and said a prayer for safe and fun travel, we listened to the (pre-selected by me) song of the day: "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson-- always a fun song for a road trip.

Stops along the way were for gas, food (at Walmart), and Cabela's in Wheeling, West Virginia. Energy was high even as the sun went down because we were getting ever closer to Grandma's house.* It was just before midnight when we arrived to a warm welcome. We carried in some luggage, figured out sleeping arrangements, and went to bed.

Day One safely ended.

*You should know that Grandpa lives here, too, and really the children don't prefer Grandma over Grandpa (or vice versa), but for whatever reason, the children call it "Grandma's house."