Day 24

I do NOT like sleeping in the car.

It’s great to get where we’re going faster, and it’s the only way we could have made a stop in Phoenix, but it’s not something I want to do much. Levi, Lily, Jaden, and Kendra are all pretty well-rested, because they slept nine or ten hours straight, but Aspen, Andrew, Jeff, and I are all somewhat groggy and out of it. I actually woke up three or four times, and each time I tried to keep driving. After 20-30 minutes (or even less), I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore and had to stop again.

We made it to Phoenix at about 1:30-ish and went to a mall to eat and let the kids run around. We’ve been trying to fix our own meals and buy food from the grocery store rather than eat fast food all the time, but it’s hard. Since we’re not at a campsite, we were going to head to a park and make sandwiches or mac & cheese, but it’s already 94 degrees outside, so fast food it is.

Once we got to my cousin’s house, the kids ran around in circles and had fun playing with Dakota and Bandit the dog. The house was packed, although that happens everywhere we go: Linda, her husband Dennis, Dakota, my Uncle Bruce and Auntie Reen, my dad, my stepmom, plus the eight of us and the dog. The kids all played on Dakota’s blow-up waterslide for what seemed like hours and had a blast. We had a wonderful dinner, including my aunt’s delish potato salad that I haven’t had in forever, topped it off with chocolate cake with homemade buttercream frosting, and then just sat and visited. As with every family member we’ve visited, I wish we could stay longer and visit more often!

Wasn’t hard to get the kids to go to sleep tonight. They’re worn out. I’m glad, since they spent so much time in the car yesterday. Total miles between last night and this morning: 717.