Frankly, I’m happy to be a Small Town girl. I’ve never had a desire to live in the Big City. However, every time we go to Seattle and vicinity, there are certain places we like to shop… mainly because we don’t have these stores in the Spokane area… IKEA  Observation: Swedish names for things are hilarious. Especially when one has…

I used both my camera and my phone for taking pictures on our trip. As I was transferring the files from my camera to my computer this morning, it occurred to me that most of the pictures that I shared along the way were from my phone. And I had so many more interesting ones on my camera!  Rocky Mountains…

Miles traveled: 5,390 Average fuel mileage: 36.15 States driven through: 16 Spent the night in: car (2 nights) Montrose, Colorado Tucumcari, New Mexico my parents’ house near Mulberry, Arkansas my mother-in-law’s house in Rolla, Missouri Paducah, Kentucky Nashville, Tennessee (2 nights) Belle Fourche, South Dakota Observations: I still love to travel with that man of mine. We’d stay on the…

Departed Belle Fourche, South Dakota: 7:45 a.m. MDT Hours driven: 10:40 Miles driven: 791 Average speed: 74.1 mph Fuel mileage: 32.4 mpg States: South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho Other VW Jetta wagons spotted: 2 (white, black) Weather: heavy rains and wind through Wyoming and eastern Montana, which made it a little scary passing semis on the two-lane Read-Aloud: the first…

My fans (a.k.a. my kids and my mother) are complaining because I haven’t been keeping up with my blog. I hate to disappoint anyone, so here is today’s update. Departed Nashville, Tennessee: 9:08 p.m. CDT. Hours driven: 19.5 Hours slept: 4.5 (in the car just east of St. Louis) Miles driven: 1,332 Average speed: 68.3 mph Fuel mileage: 36.4 mpg…

On a gray Sunday morning.

…at the Teach Them Diligently conference. Set-up today was not without its challenges but we did manage to finish getting the booth put together before the vendor hall opened at 6:00 p.m. We had a busy evening visiting with homeschoolers. I’ll be working long hours the next two days, so I probably won’t blog again until Sunday. The leisurely part…

Departed Rolla, Missouri: 11:05 a.m. CDT Hours driven: 5:05 Miles driven: 331 Average speed: 45.6 mph Fuel mileage: 40.1 mpg States: Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky Wildlife spotted: toad, turtle, squirrel (we see more “dramatic” wildlife out west, I think!) Other VM Jetta wagons spotted: 0 Weather: sunny and hot… and humid Car Talk podcast: 1 episode Rivers crossed: Mississippi, Ohio Arrived…

Departed Mulberry, Arkansas: 11:20 a.m. Hours driven: 7 Miles driven: 331 Average speed: 47.2 mph Average fuel mileage: 39.7 mpg States: Arkansas, Missouri Other VW Jetta wagons spotted: 1 (black, like ours) Wildlife  spotted: turtle, possum (which may or may not have been dead, with possums it’s hard to tell) Point of interest: drove past the church where we got…

Departed Tucumcari, New Mexico: 8:00 a.m. MDT.Hours driven: 9Flat tires: 1Hours stopped to change the tire and get it fixed in Amarillo: 2.5Miles driven: 590 (including 44 on Old Route 66)Average speed: 50.2 (including stops)Fuel mileage:  39.7 (40.259 on one tank!)States: New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, ArkansasWildlife spotted: 2 snakes crossing the road in New MexicoOther VW Jetta wagons spotted: 1…