(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66

FoxHaven on the Road (Part 3)

Day 7: We were hoping to get an early start, but Jay's Gran treated us to a big breakfast at Denny's. We enjoyed spending a little more time with Nana and Great-Gran, and Kit (who is still learning the rules of etiquette that apply when being treated by a senior citizen on a fixed income) enjoyed his steak and eggs. We eventually left El Paso behind us and started the drive to Missouri. We took a leisurely route that passed through Kit's missing link, Roswell, NM. Check out the street lamp.

We also drove through Hereford, the Beef Capitol of the World, and couldn't wait to breathe fresh air again. My favorite was the drive through reservation territory. The scenery was beautiful. We stopped for the night in Amarillo at a hotel that had a pool. I took the kids swimming while Jay tried to catch us some fish for dinner. (Background: Before we even left Alabama, Kyle had been begging to go to Captain D's while we were on vacation. We promised we would, but hadn't had the opportunity yet. We later found out that Kyle didn't want fish - he wanted their fried cheese sticks!) Jay found two (closed) fast-food fish restaurants, so we had chicken instead.

Day 8: Happy 17th Anniversary to us! This time we managed to get a VERY early start so that we could make it to Marionville, Missouri at a reasonable hour. We stopped to eat breakfast at IHOP in Oklahoma City. As usual, the older crowd ate and the younger crowd nibbled. Cordelia ate everybody's link sausages, though. After such a big breakfast, we skipped lunch and just snacked along the way. Still, when we got to the McDonald's over the turnpike at Vinita, Oklahoma, nobody was overly hungry. We stopped and had chicken nuggets, french fries and sodas just so we could say we were there.

We managed to arrive in Marionville before dinner, and not long before the farmer (Uncle Brian) came to feed his horse. He saddled up Mr. Reed and gave the kids rides.

Day 9: Everybody loves a riding lawn mower!

After Kyle and Kinneret finished helping Grandpa mow the yard, we spent some time playing outside. Kyle and I were playing with his floppy flyer when the cat began playing with us. It would crouch down and watch where the flyer would land and then it would run at it (or whoever came to pick it up). The cat thought it was a great game, but the children were wary and soon afraid of the cat. The funny part, shown in the video clip below (warning - it's a 2-minute clip), was that the cat didn't stop playing even after Kyle threw the flyer on the roof. He followed Kyle all the way to the corral and pretty much had him pinned there. Most of the chase occurred before we started the camera, but you can still get an idea of what happened.

Grandma had to go to work in the afternoon, so we drove to Joplin so we could visit Jay's brother and nephew, George and Hayden, after Hayden's baseball game. Miniature golf is always fun. Last year when we went to the beach, Cordelia would hit the ball and then pick it up and drop it in the hole. A year older and wiser now, Cordelia would hit the ball and then set it down next to the hole to putt it in.

After our round of golf (we gave up trying to keep score so I don't really know who won), we went to the mall and spent some money at the arcade. We managed to spend just enough change for each of the kids (including Kit) to get a little prize. We spent lots more at the bookstore. Yes, there are bookstores in Alabama and yes, we did bring books with us, but as long as we were there...

We went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that also had lots of finicky-eater-friendly items on its buffet (including fried cheese sticks, but we find out later that Kyle wasn't satisfied). The baseball game was almost done, so we stopped by to see our friends Tracy and Ali since it would take George and Hayden about an hour to get back home. Kinneret found another new best friend in Samantha. Greg and Ellen Sharkey also happened to be there with their two children, Jared and Cassie, so Kyle had a playmate as well. The women had a great time visiting, the younger kids had fun playing in the yard and throwing things in the pool, and the men (and Kit) had fun playing Wii. I think that was the longest hour in history! We got to George's around 9 and Hayden shared his Xbox with the kids for an hour before we were all just too tired to visit any longer.

Day 10: Even after a late night, the kids were up bright and early. Kinneret was first out the door and found a turtle crossing the driveway.

By the time everyone was dressed (budding paleontologist Kyle is modeling his dinosaur jammies), my sister, Kathlene, had arrived with her children, Jared, Billie and Kendra. It was a lazy morning, but eventually we roused ourselves and went shopping (dare I say we went to Wal-Mart?) to pick up things for dinner. Kyle, Kinneret and Cordelia each begged money from Grandma, and they were very excited that they had a couple of dollars to spend. Kyle went home with the cousins until dinner time. We had barbecue chicken (that's chicken baked in a barbecue sauce, not barbecued chicken on a grill) for dinner and Billie sang for us. The children, as usual, spent more time feeding Mr. Reed than themselves. They also had fun trying to catch butterflies with Kendra.

Day 11: Church didn't start until 10, so surely we had plenty of time to get ready, right? It was still a hectic morning, but we made it to church. Cordelia (pictured) and Kinneret were both thrilled that Grandma had pretty pink ribbons to put in their hair. After church, we drove over to Kathlene's house to let the kids spend a little more time with their cousins. That evening, I tried to catch up on laundry again (I did six loads of laundry in El Paso!) and spent some time playing with the kids outside. Kyle learned how to balance the butterfly net on his head, just like Kit. (More background: Kit made a name for himself this past year by walking around at school with things balanced on his head - binder, saxophone case, music stand, etc. That was his talent in the "Man of the Park" competition that the dance team uses as a fundraiser. If you want me to post a photo of Kit participating in the competition, let me know.)

Day 12: Sadly, vacation is over. Time to drive back to Birmingham. Kathlene and the cousins came over to say goodbye.

We loaded up the car, stopped for gas and donuts (no better luck with the donuts than we had at the beginning of the trip) in Springfield and drove. We made great time, arriving in Jonesboro, Arkansas in time for lunch. According to the Garmin (by the way, a huge thank you to David Norris for the use of his Garmin. It was a great help!), there was a Captain D's right off the interstate. That is, there USED to be a Captain D's right off the interstate. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel instead. Lunch cost us a little time, as did the more frequent potty stops after lunch, but we made it to Birmingham for dinner. We opted to drive to Captain D's (we had promised Kyle a meal at Captain D's and it wasn't until we got home without the fried cheese sticks that we found out that is what he really wanted and eating fried cheese sticks at the Chinese restaurant didn't count) to pick up some fish for dinner. Good thing we weren't planning on dining in, because Cordelia's tummy was done riding in the car just as we drove past the exit to our house. After a long 15 minutes in the drive-thru, we arrived home.

All in all, a very successful road trip. The kids are already planning next year's vacation!