Day 29--Cheyenne, Wy. to Riverton, Ut: HOME SWEET HOME

WE'RE HOME!! It was at Ben's request that I write that at the very beginning of the last blog of our trip. I'm writing this the day after we got home because, as you can imagine, once we got home it was just crazy, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We left Cheyenne and made the loooooong drive through the bleak desert of Wyoming. I think Will has been able to point out every train that has gone by our car on this trip, and this was no exception; in fact, there are a lot of trains that go through Wyoming, and Will pointed out every one! Without any internet service through the ENTIRE state, I was left to sit back, relax and listen to, once again, The Grapes of Wrath. To our disappointment we only got through disc 14 (out of 18), so we need another road trip to finish it up! Ben was watching our GPS with great anticipation as we drove closer and closer to home. It was almost a killer for him when we stopped at Cafe Rio for dinner (but he quickly got over it because he loves that place). While we were eating Ben, in all his excitement said, "Can I go see my friends in the neighborhood when we get home because they really missed me." Then Jake pipes in, "Can I go see Jaycie and Nathan and Craig when I get home?" To which Will said, "Can I play with my Indiana Jones whip when I get home?" Three boys, three different perspectives of life! Ok, two...Jake really is just like Ben; all he wants to do is play with friends!
And finally we made it...home sweet home! Ben stayed with us long enough for our neighbor to take our picture, and then he was gone. I have to give some thanks at this point: Thanks to Bart Bennion for "accidentally" mowing our lawn--what a nice surprise to come home to; thanks to Janae Lewis for taking care of our home while we were away; congratulations to Scott Howe for doing so well on the SLCFD test--way to go being #13 on the list, you'll be a great firefighter!! And finally a HUGE thanks to Daren for driving the entire 5,945 miles and for the most amazing trip with our family; I'd do it all again in a heartbeat and I love you like crazy!!!

How many of you are familiar with the movie A Christmas Story, and the main character, Ralphie? Is Jake not the spitting image of Ralphie--he found these on the road the other day and when he put them on it reminded me of that scene when Ralphie dreamed he shot his eye out from his Red Ryder BB gun and was blind, wearing the same kind of glasses. Jake has always reminded me of him anyway, but this one really made me laugh!

So we took inventory of our house and yard, and when I walked back to the garden, it was hard to tell where the garden ended and the weeds began! The weeds are absolutely huge!! But it's good to see the garden survived, since I planted it right before we left.

So Ben and Jake were out of there as quickly as they could go, but Will was happy to be reunited with his "whip." He played the Indiana Jones song over and over and put it up to his ear so he could hear it better.

And there's nothing Will loves more than to play the song on his whip while he is swinging in the blue swing at home. He's a home-body and would sit in the swing all day if someone would push him!!

So here we are, back to our normal crazy lives, trying to survive like everyone else. It's always so strange to walk into our home after we have been gone for a trip, and plenty of times in the past the house is a mess when we get back because that's how we left it, but I am sure glad Daren talked me into cleaning the floors before we left this time! There is still the piles of clutter around the house though that drives me crazy, especially after living in very clean hotel rooms for a few weeks!! Sometime soon I'll get to them...maybe not...

So as I look back, for my own sake, here are a few reminders of our trip:

-13 states

-29 days

-5,945 miles

-2,000ish pictures

-5 cases of water

-5 or 6 12-packs of Diet Coke (and a couple of Mountain Dew)

-3 bags of seeds

-45ish peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--and eating them in the coolest places

-5 trips to McDonalds (is that it? It seems like so many more!)

-5 trips to In-n-Out

-4 donut Fridays

-1 Cubs game at Wrigley Field

-spending time with family in California and friends at Pirates Cove

-staying up until 1 0r 2am each night with Diet Coke and Twix writing the blog

-driving from Santa Monica Pier to Navy Pier on old Route 66

-playing in countless parks along the way

-having a blast all along the way with our little family=priceless!

Thanks to everyone who followed us along on this journey, no matter how much or how little--we loved all the comments!

And for the last time:

Total trip mileage: 5,945

Weather: low 80's and overcast throughout Wyoming, blazing hot mid-90's in Salt Lake valley

Premium gas paid in Cheyenne, Wy.: $4.19