Home Sweet Home!

We got back to good ol’ Jacksonville, FL yesterday around 7pm. As much fun as I had on our trip, I was filled with so much joy when we drove into our neighborhood and I stepped foot into our house. It was a wonderful feeling coming back to one of my most favorite places! I’m extremely grateful for the Lord’s protecting hand and for the gift of family. It was a trip of a lifetime!

During our 3 day drive home, mom and I came up with some fun facts and lowlights (since we’ve shared most of our highlights) of our trip....

Most asked questions:
What are we doing tomorrow?
How much longer until we get there?
What’s for dinner?

Top 5 most popular places:
1. Glacier
2. The Grand Tetons
3. Yellowstone
4. Badlands
5. Mt. Rushmore

Lowlights:
-Stuck in traffic in Seattle A LOT
-We ate out twice and both times we wished we hadn’t
-Altitude sickness
-Trip to the emergency room two hours from where we were staying (in the middle of Yellowstone) with no cell phone reception.
-7 mile hike through brush our height
-Didn’t see a bear

Random:
-We made 53 gas station stops to re-fuel
- Did 33 loads of laundry
- Drove 9,000 miles
- Who caught the most Z’s while driving 9,000 miles: Drum role please…..Ryan and Amber!!!
- Spent 8 nights in Wal-Mart parking lots

Wildlife:
Buffalo- Yellowstone and Black Hills
Deer- Everywhere
Pronghorn/Antelope- Black Hills
Donkeys- Black Hills
Mountain Goats- Glacier and Black Hills
Coyote- Yellowstone
Jack Rabbits- Badlands and Cody
Wolves- Yellowstone
Prairie Dogs- Badlands and Black Hills
Big Horn Sheep- Badlands
Chipmunks- Everywhere
Elk- Yellowstone
Moose- Yellowstone
Turkeys- Badlands
River Otters- Yellowstone
Peacock- Port Townsen
Golden Eagle- Cody

Food:
Favorite snacks: pretzels (Went through 8 bags!), granola bars, and fruit.

Our Chuck Wagon meals: Spaghetti, Tacos, Grilled Chicken, Hamburgers, Hotdogs/Brats, Steak, Chicken Piccata, and Beef Stew. Most of these meals we had twice. If we didn’t cook, we had a sandwich or leftovers.

Lunch: Just about everyday we had a picnic lunch that consisted of sandwiches, sandwiches, and more sandwiches :). Most days along with sandwiches we had grapes and chips.

Breakfast: Everyday for breakfast we had cereal, oatmeal, toast, or fruit. Two mornings when we had time we had bacon, eggs, and toast.

More pictures coming tomorrow!