2 Days to 10 Years

Life is one big journey but it is important to take side trips once and a while so we can enjoy the big ride. We have taken a few adventures in our 10 years and tonight I will share them with you.

Now there are the obvious trips to Iowa, Missouri and Texas to see family & friends; those excursions are always a treat and we look forward to seeing our loved ones.

Our time with the kids while they were growing up was always a whirlwind....so of course our first family trip would be the same. They were around 10 and 11 when we took this adventure; they had never seen any of the things we were about to show them. We picked them up in Dallas and drove down to Galveston,TX to see the ocean. We spent 2 days swimming in the waters, laying on the beach and feeding the seagulls.

We are here to pump...you up!!!

After we were done exploring Galveston we headed to Carlsbad, NM to go to Carlsbad Cavern. Now I enjoy all of God's creations....the majestic mountains, the endless oceans and all the other treasures this country holds but Carlsbad Cavern was one of my favorites!! There are miles of caves that go hundreds of feet down into the earth; it holds lots of secret places with it's stalactites and stalagmites.....lots of rooms where nature give you the most amazing art show. After a day of cave exploring we went to the hotel and swam until dark the perfect end to the perfect day.

After an astounding day in New Mexico we spent the next day on a journey to the neighboring state to see The Grand Canyon. All I can say about The Grand Canyon is that it is so surreal......I thought I was looking at a life size postcard. It was a long day driving around but it took our breaths away.....it was inspiring.

Our own family postcard

After we had walked all day and seen incredible things it was time to get in the car and head to Colorado. The mountains were the next conquest on our family adventure. We pulled into Cortez, CO late so we went right to bed, we wanted to be rested for the next day. We left Cortez early and headed to Denver taking the scenic route. The kids favorite thing that day was seeing snow in June.......Andrew found a spot where it went to his waist.......they were so excited!!!!

Rocky Mountain High

Denver was a welcomed treat after a long day on the road until Chelsea got sick....poor thing had a terrible earache, so we found an emergency care center and found out that she had an inner ear infection.....they got her set up with some medicine and we went back to the hotel where Chelsea had a night of being doted on...she loved that!!! The next day we headed home to Warrenton.....we were gone 6 days.....boy did we see a lot in 6 days!!!!

The next big trip was to Put-in-Bay, OH. Our friend Jami's family had a couple of houses that they rented out and so for a surprise she rented one for all of us. It was such a fun time.....the main modes of transportation were golf carts and bicycles. We had a very relaxing time and made lots of fun memories....one that Jami has not let us live down was how vicious we were when we played spoons...we love to play spoons!!!!

Taking Jami for a ride

The next two vacations were ones that the Donner and I took and they happened to be last year. Last January we went to Las Vegas, NV. Donnie was out there for work and he was going to have to be there for two weeks so I went out for the weekend between them. It was so fun just walking around, watching people and spending time together. I had never been to Vegas so it was very exciting for me.....my favorite place was the Belagio with the Dancing waters.....it was so beautiful that it made me a little emotional.....it doesn't take much.

The latest trip was back in October when we went to Seattle. It is beautiful country out there, I blogged about our trip already so I won't stay on this subject to long. It was a great time for Donnie and I to reconnect.

My Sweetie

Posing with the scenery

Our trips are made up of more than the awesome things we have seen, they are about the little things, the games, the talks, the pranks and just being together experiencing new things with the ones we love. I know that there are many more adventures for us to go on and I look forward to them. I feel blessed to have been able to have the opportunities that I have had in my life and thankful that I have a partner to help share my journey.