Can anyone say.......ROAD TRIP!

So we decided to leave on Sunday May 30, 2010 to head back east for Greg's clinical rotations. I must really love you Greg in order for me to pack up my house and leave my friends and family for an entire year. We had some of our friends and family there to send us off. We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies as we drove down the highway our car was stuffed as full as we could get it.

Thanks O'Donnells, Piepers, Walkers, and Stumpes. I sure do miss you guys. Thank you for all that you guys did to help in our moving We couldn't of done it with out you.

Here we go getting ready to get in the van and hit the road. It was really hard for us to leave. We have been in the same house for over 8 years and now we were up and moving.

Our first stop was in Holbrook, Arizona where we met my parents and Brooklyn and Jacey for a little lunch at our favorite place to eat called El Rancho. My parents had the two younger ones for over 2 weeks. Thanks Mom and Dad we never could have been ready to go with out your help.

As we were saying good-bye Brooklyn and Jacey had a hard time. They started crying and kept saying, "It will take forever for you to get to Maryland." They knew that when we got to Maryland they then would be able to fly on a big airplane with grandma and grandpa out to be with us and see their new home. It was really hard to leave them but we knew that they would have more fun with grandma and grandpa than they would being in a van for 4 days. Thanks again mom and dad for watching the girls they had a lot of fun with you guys. You guys are the best! I love you guys and miss you very much.

Welcome to New Mexico! We finally left Arizona on Sunday afternoon.

We stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit Aunt May (my dad's sister). It was great to see her. Greg and McKenzie had never met Aunt May and I hadn't seen her for many years. She had a fun loving cat and pet rat that McKenzie got to enjoy for a little visit. Thanks Aunt May for the perfume and sea shell.

Sunday night we stayed in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. It is hard to see what a place looks like at 10pm, and this is it. McKenzie and I are just enjoying a little breakfast before we get back in the van.

Welcome to Texas! We made it to Texas on Monday morning. We didn't travel for very long in Texas a couple of things that I remember is they had the biggest cross in one of the towns and it STUNK really bad in a couple of parts by the cattle ranches. They also offered a 72oz. steak, I guess everything is BIGGER in Texas.

Welcome to Oklahoma! The scenery really started to change once we hit Oklahoma. It was starting to get really green and pretty.

This picture is at the welcome center.

This is what you would have seen had you driven behind us on the freeway. I am sure it was quit a site to see.

McKenzie was a real trooper on the trip. I am sure it was one of the most boring things she has ever had to endure, but she did great. She did have fun though getting to see all the different states.

On Monday night we stayed in a little town called Sallisaw, Oklahoma. It is on the Oklahoma and Arkansas boarder. This night was the hardest for me I really started to feel home sick I wanted to go back to Arizona I missed my family.

WATCH OUT FOR CARS, GREG! Doesn't really look like much traffic. He had to secure our bag that was on top of the van.

Welcome to Arkansas. We arrived in Arkansas on Tuesday morning, it sure was green. I really liked Arkansas it was pretty, green everywhere. The people there are really friendly but the accents are really thick, Y'all come back now! I especially liked Little Rock it was a beautiful city. I could maybe live there. Maybe but don't get any ideas Greggy.

So we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and we looked out the back window and this is what we saw. A beautiful little pond for fishing and a park. So we decided to take a closer look. It was lovely. It was really humid though.

The trip from here on out was beautiful and green.

Welcome to Tennessee! We crossed the Mississippi River and this was the only picture of the Tennessee sign we could get. The river was huge.

We decided to stop in Memphis which is just on the other side of the river.

Elvis has left the building! He resided in the welcome center in Memphis.

There was this Huge egg looking thing outside the welcome center made of all these little pieces of tile. It was pretty, McKenzie almost knocked it over!

On Tuesday night we stayed just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee.

While in Tennessee we stopped at an Arby's for lunch and there was this beautiful park with a gazebo that we ate lunch at. We talked about how much fun Brooklyn and Jacey would have if they could play at the gazebo.This state is McKenzie's favorite she really wants to go back and visit with Brooklyn and Jacey. She also says that she is going to live in Tennessee someday.

Welcome to Virginia! We are finally getting closer one more state left to go. Virginia was by far the most beautiful state we traveled through. We didn't get any pictures of Washington DC or Maryland because of how crazy traffic was, we will get many more picture of the area so you can see it.

Over all it was a good trip. We made it safe and sound, and McKenzie did great. We got to see some beautiful scenery and meet some interesting people along the way. We do miss our family and friends back in Arizona and our own home.