Roadtrip from Indiana to Oregon & Washington

I could write for hours about everything that happened on this trip. However, I'm just gonna write down some things that we learned or key points while on the trip...

1. Trip on the way is MUCH faster than the trip home.
2. Kids were AWESOME on the way there! We were so proud!
3. The way home wasn't as good, but we still made it in 3days with very little arguing, so that was also a success.
4. It's great to be back around babysitters that you know will take care of your kids the way you want them to be taken care of.
5. Sorting through things and packing boxes to go 4 different places is something I never want to do again.
6. Having great friends to help you pack those boxes is priceless!
7. Getting lots of hand-me-downs is a great thing.
8. Don't send kids shoe shopping with others, or at least look over the shoes and take them back if there isn't any growing room.
9. Having special friends and family that are willing to work hours of preparing & cleaning to pull off a potluck so you can see everyone is a wonderful thing.
10. Only having enough time to try and see about 40 people in a 3hr period is something I hate doing. There are always people that get missed, or only spoken to a couple minutes. It's a horrible feeling!
11. Chinese & Teriyaki were eaten as often as possible. Wish we had good places out here to get them...
12. Don't ever try to save on shipping cost with pictures. People never get them passed out. Just spend the extra $20 to ship them to everyone indvidually.
13. Seeing Makenzie play with her friends & cousins is priceless. I love how they all remember each other just like it was yesterday that we lived there.
14. Nick and Parker playing together is so cute. Especially when they hug!
15. Love how my husband can easily go to the Nick Clearance store and find shoes in his size!!
16. Spending time at Grandma & Grandpa Penner's is always relaxing.
17. Makenzie got to go help Grandpa feed & get eggs from the chickens on the farm. She told him to put the eggs back so they could have chicks.
18. Aunt Heidi trying to have a phone conversation without kids means that she gets followed around the yard. Felt bad for her, but it was REALLY cute to watch!!
19. Kids are in shambles anytime Aunt Heidi isn't around, and leaving her was really hard to do.
20. Seeing how grown up my cousins are becoming makes me feel old. It's great though to not feel like there is such a huge age difference. We have alot more to talk about!
21. Funny to hear Matt talk mechanic talk. Seems like not too long ago Phil was showing him how to check and put oil in a car.
22. Phil says Matt is very smart to pretend to be dumb, cause that way he won't be constantly having to fix people's cars like Phil used to have to do.
23. Taking a small child over rough mountains equals lots of screaming.
24. Don't take a trailer over a highway that says "no trailers". You lose LOTS of horsepower at 10,000 feet!!
25. Taking kids to a hotel for the first time ever meant pratically no sleep for mommy. After the excitement wore off they screamed about wanting to go sleep in the car. They finally both crashed around 2am. At least daddy got 12hrs of sleep!
26. The sound of mud tires puts me to sleep. I didn't drive much. Felt useless.
27. You can go 600-800 miles through Wyoming & Nebraska without seeing a play area for kids. When it's too cold to play outside, this is NOT a good thing!!
28. When you see a sign in eastern Wyoming that says "bugerking playland 30minutes ahead" DON'T BELIEVE IT! It closed down over 5 years ago!!! Boy, we sure wanted to go burn down that sign so no other parent goes through what we went through.
29. After awhile, you get sick of any and all restruants and fast food places.
30. No matter how many movies you bring on the trip...the kids will watch the same 5 over and over again....Nick screamed for Barney many times on the way to Oregon, so we went out of our way to buy it for the return trip. Still hasn't been watched.
31. Love truck stops. They are wonderful, and don't really get upset with kids, even in the middle of the night when they are jumping over the backs of tables.
32. Puke happens...
33. Eventually you just have to start using blankets as carseat pads.
34. When those get puked on, they just have to suffer with hard plastic.
35. Sometimes breaking the law and letting your kids lay down to sleep is necessary. As is letting the older one move the carseat to the front.
36. Moving the kids back as soon as they are snoring, not so easy.
37. Bass Pro Shops, is WAY better than Cabella's. However a short stop cost us $100 and almost 3hrs. Got alot for that hundred bucks though. Their prices are VERY reasonable!
38. If you accidentally lose the craft your kids made at Bass Pro Shops, Thank the Lord they forgot about it!!!
39. Getting home at 1am meant that Makenzie was so excited she didn't go to bed till about 3am.
40. Cleaning out the car from the trip is pratically the worst part of the trip. It stunk so bad from all the throw up, spilled drinks, and food.
41. Getting it all clean and smelling good is wonderful!!