Suddenly We Are In Kansas

After 850 miles, 12.5 hours of driving, 4 stops, 2 days, 2 construction delays, 1 detour, 2 cars, 1 baby, 1 dog, 0 rain, and one milkshake later, we made it all the way from Clanton, Alabama to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas at 12:33 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9^th. Wow!

The trip went really, really well. Better than I expected honestly.

We left on Monday at 6:30 a.m. (later than our scheduled departure time) and when we reached our goal of being west of St. Louis, Missouri that evening we decided to go ahead and drive one more hour down the road.

Parker and Cash did great! Since we took two cars Honey lead the way while Parker and Cash were back seat buddies in my car. The two construction delays were early in our trip and the combination of stop-and-go-traffic along with a very bumpy road woke Parker Bear up early from his morning car nap. He was pretty upset about the rude awakening and fussed a bit but once he got over that and we got away from the construction it was smooth sailing the rest of the way!

From the front seat, I was able to hand him puffs for a snack when he needed something and I had a bag full of toys to hand to him one at a time as well. Plus he had his buddy Cash right next to him the whole time!

We stopped twice for an hour each time to nurse Parker, feed him lunch or a snack, get gas, stretch our legs, and let Cash out. That night we stayed at a hotel in Columbia, Missouri and we were exhausted!

The next day we hit the road at 10 a.m. and did not stop until we got to Ft. Leavenworth two-and-a-half hours later. Parker took his morning nap for most of that trip and when he woke up he played happily in his car seat.

The drive was so super easy. Mainly because all I had to do was follow Honey! But also because we took one highway almost all the way there. Easy, easy drive!

The drive was B E A U T I F U L ! ! I have taken a road trip from Georgia to Colorado twice before and went through Kansas each time when I was a little girl with my family, but I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the nation is. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to make the drive! I will certainly never forget it.

I can’t wait to share about our house selection process and my first thoughts of Kansas and our new community at Ft. Leavenworth!

Before I go I have to share these pictures of Parker's first bagel. I let him "teeth" on it at breakfast before we left the hotel and he probably ate about one third of it. Verdict? He loved it!