3482 miles. 9 days. 4 states (not counting confusion) and 2 cases of Dr Pepper

Home.

The Babysitter and the rental car have been dropped off.

Pictures coming soon but for now the chauffeur needs a nap.

Back in NM

850 miles until home. Eating lunch out of the ice chest and it is about 1000% better than the awful slop we ate last night at a "real" restaraunt.

Kingman, AZ

On the way to the Grand Canyon. Should get there about 4 pm.

Leaving California

The AtHomeFam and The Babysitter will be heading towards home in the morning. Our trip has been a raging success. Multiple beach trips to beaches all over the area, We had no idea there were different types of beaches in California. loads of shopping, You should check out my new surfer look. Legoland, Disneyworld, Fourth of July fireworks on the beach and today, the San Diego Zoo, With a side visit to the Balboa Park Carousel.

We had a blast. Visiting my Aunt and Uncle had been great fun, too. They have gone out of their way to make the whole family happy. The kids have enjoyed getting to really know their great Aunt, who seems to have enjoyed her time with them, too. Another few days and I might be ready to give it all up and become a full-time beach bum.

Tomorrow we are heading for the Grand Canyon. The detour is only about 300 miles and I am guessing, about 6 extra hours in the car, so we have decided that it is a worthy distraction. The timing of our canyon visit is not going to work out great, we probably won't get there until late afternoon, but we may try to say near the park, so that we can enjoy the scenery of the Grand Canyon at dusk.

Pictures will have to wait until we get home. Too many to sort through for now.

Bonfire on the beach

last night. Disneyland today.

Life might not get better than this.

Trip Recap

Our road trip out to San Clemente, California was blissfully uneventful. No broken down car, no flat tires. Everything went smoothly.

The kids were kept entertained with an assortment of handheld video games, DVDs, coloring books, reading Prince Caspian stories with The Boss Lady and being entertained by The Babysitter, their 22 year old second cousin wo came along for the ride (and a trip to Disneyland).

We traveled 1400 miles, door to door. 75% of that time was spent on Interstate 10. The best part of the drive though, was Interstate 8, through the Imperial Valley. The mountains and boulders were awesome.

Today is the day we set aside for "Un-Planned Spontenaity" - Thanks to Chels for that quip.. We do not have any real plans, other than playing at the beach, hitting some Cail geocaches and maybe a side trip to the Surfing Heratige Foundation. Texas boy need to get his surf on sometimes, you know?

Live from the beach

70 degrees. So there!

Arrived at 4:15. 1400 miles and the driver is worn out.

California, here we are!

Lunching at the park in Holtville. Come grab a sammich.

225 miles (maybe less) to go to San Clemente.

620 down. 290 to go.

The AtHomeFam Plus 1 have entered New Mexico. Snacks have been eaten and video games have been played.

Aren't you glad I have access to an iPhone?

Making progress

450 miles down. 450 to go until Tuscon.

Hitting good geocaches along the way.

We are OUTTA here!

Somewhere.

Out there.

The best rented plans...

So it turns out our smoking deal on a rental car was only half a good deal.

The price was right, but it turns out that we could only get halfway to our destination. They forgot to tell us that they do not allow rentals outside of Texas and the four contiguous states. And on a road trip to California, making record time to the New Mexico/Arizona border just does not really count for much.

Thanks to my new best friend Barbara J. at the Avis counter, we are rolling westward in a Chrysler Pacifica. We lost the 3rd row seat in the transition from one @#*&^)#! rental company over to Avis, but Avis will not claim we have stolen the car if we pass into Arizona (or California), so we have that going for us.
Need a rental car in a pinch in Austin? Head over to the Avis counter and let Barbara J. hook you up.

Anyways, we are moving out early in the morning. Hoping to make it to Tuscon, Arizona for some sleep and to check out some of the awsesomest star gazing in the continental US.

Blogging for the road is a very real possibility, thanks to the laptop and The Babysitter's iPhone.

Road Trip!

Let's get a few things straight.

Yes, The AtHomeFam is heading west early Monday morning on a 10 day road trip.

Yes, there will be 2 children cooped up in a car traveling almost 3500 miles over 10 days.

No, this is NOT 1970.

Therefore, we will be traveling in an air-conditioned minivan.

With a fully functional multi-screen DVD player, at least one laptop computer and a Nintendo Wii along for the ride.

We also have packed one Nintendo DS, a Leapster game system, a couple of iPods, two or three digital cameras, an iPhone, a radar detector, at least one portable CD player, about a million AA rechargeable batteries and all of the chargers and power inverters to go along with those gadgets.

Somewhere in all of the gear there are also coloring books, magnetic dress-up dolls, Star Wars action figures and a bunch of extra pillows and blankets. Somewhere along the way we MIGHT even decide to unplug the children and let them entertain themselves by watching the scenery roll by.

We will be leaving the rolling hills of Austin for the desert landscapes of the American Southwest as we go cruising through southern New Mexico and Arizona on our way to Legoland and the rest of Southern California.

We are also hitting the San Diego Zoo, Joshua Tree National Park, and Disneyland. Right in the middle of our trip we are going to hang out at the beach for the 4th of July. All in all, that should make for a busy enough trip.

But wait. There is more.

On the way home we are squeezing in a detour to The Grand Canyon. We won't get to stay there very long, but I doubt we will be that close again, anytime soon. Hopefully we will be there long enough that the kids remember the Canyon and not the extra time in the car.

Besides, you can play a lot of MarioKart on a four hour detour!