Thanksgiving Road Trip: part 3

5:49 PM December 1
We left Winslow around 3:30 after a quick snapshot at the famous “Standin’ on the Corner” corner. We just had to take a picture there since it’s the popular tourist place. Asa danced around a little to the music that was playing.
Both boys are currently sleeping. I took a little nap. James has been eating his sunflower seeds and driving. He is a little sad leaving Arizona because he didn’t get to eat some his favorite food from Jack in the Box.

8:29 PM
We made it to the other side of Albuquerque. Our plan was to stop on the west end of town at the Flying J. There was construction and we missed the exit. I was on the phone with James’ mom so we asked his dad where there was another good place to stop. We got gas at a Love’s for $1.69. There wasn’t anywhere there for us to eat. We also missed the turn to get back on I-40 and drove a few blocks through some very questionable neighborhoods. We drove a little further down the interstate and got off to look for a restaurant. We found Carl’s Junior down a couple blocks. We went inside to let the kids stretch but got our food to go. The only problem with this stop was that we couldn’t get back on I-40 there because of construction. We attempted to follow the detour, but I think it was wrong. James pulled out the map and found a route back to the interstate. We were starting to think we would spend all night in Albuquerque. It only ended up being an hour.
About 20 miles from Albuquerque I was giving Judah a bottle and it didn’t agree with him. He threw it all up so we had to stop and clean him up. It went pretty well. It seems like every time we have to pull off there isn’t a decent place to park. I was afraid someone was going to sneak up on us in the dark or something.

That's all I wrote on the way home. I will tell you that the boys did a lot better on the way home. I drove more on the way home also. I guess they feel safer when I am driving! We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the memorial at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In case you don't remember, on April 19, 1995 a bomb was detonated inside a Ryder truck which was parked in front of the Murrah building. 168 people were killed in the attack, over 800 were injured. 30 children were orphaned. Over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were arrested for planning and carrying out the attack against the United States government. McVeigh received a lethal injection in 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. The memorial was dedicated on April 19, 2000. This is engraved over an entryway to the outdoor memorial:
"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."
I'll admit that I stopped so James could see the memorial. I was there with my parents in high school. It was around 6:00 AM so it was pretty quiet. I fed Judah and changed a poopy explosion while James looked around. It really wasn't very exciting.
On our way out of OK City, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for some grub. Our waitress was, well let's say she was more awake than we were. She was pretty impressed with our cute kids.
Probably the worst part of the drive home was about 40 minutes from our house. Both boys were screaming and wouldn't stop. We pulled over at a gas station and held both of them. They were happy just being out of their car seats. We decided they would just have to suffer through the remainder of the drive since we were so close to home. They finally fell asleep a few more miles down the road.
Oh, the happiness when we got home. It was so nice to relax in our home! James was a little concerned that our electricity had been turned off since he couldn't get the TV to work and the clock on the microwave was out. I had unplugged a lot of stuff before leaving home to save at least a few pennies. James was relieved that he just needed to plug in a few cords to get things back on. I got a good laugh!
Asa was happy to sleep in his own bed and play with his toys. Judah was happy to be held. I think we will take the long drive again. Just not for a few months!