We made it to the mitten!

Four days, many interesting truck stops and eight states later (yes, eight: Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and finally Michigan) we FINALLY made it back to the place my husband and I are from: beautiful Northern Michigan (or very close, anyway)! Of course we did time things just right to arrive when it's going to get cold, nasty and snowy, but eventually they will green back up to the beauty we remember.

The first leg of the trip was very... interesting. Since we knew we had a short day we skimped on stopping or eating much (unfortunately that included the boys, too) and by the end of day one we were all famished. The boys were screaming in the middle of the desert with nowhere to stop and no signs of water (for mixing bottles). Oops.

Leaving Nevada, in our new ride!

Day number two, we had learned our lesson. We were prepared with warm water in a thermos, new "toys" (the top to a coffee, the containers their foods came in, etc.) and well-rested attitudes. It went much better and we got to see the beautiful (and extremely large) Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (where the land speed record was set!), some buttes and rock formations in Wyoming and of course lots and lots of corn in Nebraska.

Driving into the Sierra Nevada Mountains

The turbines were quite majestic

It seemed like every day we had intentions to push on further and make it home quicker, but by the end of the day we were always exhausted, no matter how long the drive, and in-the-end stuck to our original plan the whole way.

All-in-all it wasn't as bad as any of us had imagined and since then (we arrived in MI on Thursday, October 28th) we've been enjoying family and friends and settling into our new digs. Pictures of those events to come...

The boys enjoyed the bright motel comforters



Side note: May I recommend avoiding the Motel 6 in Joliet, IL. The 10 police cars and S.W.A.T. team there shortly after we arrived made our stay less than enjoyable for the final sleep away from home.