Road Trip 2015, Day 19: July 12, 2015 (Cordova, TN to Little Rock, AR)

We're home.  (And we're kind of sad.)
(click here for today's pictures)

Everyone slept well last night though this was the first night on the trip that I considered pulling out my carbon monoxide detector.  Kidding (but not really!)  Before 8:30, we were all at breakfast and eating our last good breakfast for a while (I say good because breakfast at home never includes sausage, biscuits and gravy.)  

It didn't take too long for us to cross over the river back into Arkansas.  Graham moved the Dennie van picture back to Arkansas as we rolled along the road.  Robby and I spent the ride home trying to figure out how we will survive the week with 3 kids at the same day camp but leaving and arriving 15 miles apart along with getting resettled at home, unpacking (which will be done today) and then starting school in 2 weeks!  And then my aunt brought me 5 bins of clothes when she passed through town right before we left so I plan to go through those as well.  Busy week ahead but we do love a challenge!

Before we could actually come home, we had to run by the grocery store to pick up a few things needed for the week.  I just walked by the freezer section all sad like thinking about my freezer food at home....while we were gone, an outlet messed up and our freezers thawed out!  Poor Grannymom and Grandpa had to deal with all of that mess-my fridge and deep freeze were completely full of things.  They had to work and work to clean everything out-what a mess!  I will have to work now to fill that freezer back up!

We picked up a pizza on the way home and ate it at Nonna's house before heading home. When we made it home, we first unloaded the car and moved everything to the mudroom.  Then we worked on the van-Robby took all of the seats out and that is a huge job.  He then started vacuuming the floor and I had kids cleaning the windows, scrubbing the seats, cleaning the doors, vacuuming and on and on.  

Once the car was clean the kids tried to help us unpack some.  They were decent help but after I gave them a break, they never returned.  We finished in time for Robby to give the boys a hair cut (which ended up in mohawks for camp week) and then the Wilsons came over.

They had missed us so much and missed our daily ice cream that they came over with ice cream!  My kids were so excited to see their kids that they could hardly stand it.  We watched some trip pictures while eating our ice cream.  We even discussed the next trip plans before we kicked them out so our kids could go to bed! (Family Farm starts tomorrow)

Here are a few of our favorites from our 2015 Road Trip:
Playground: Cincinnati
Meal: Blue Ash Chili
Ice Cream: The Silo Restaurant (Niagara)
Car Movie: Little House on the Prairie
D.C. Monument: Lincoln
Hotel: Inn at Christmas Place (Gatlinburg)
Attraction: Cave of the Winds (Niagara)
Henry Ford Attraction: Model T Assembly Line
Snack Food: Rice Krispy Treats
Ride: Model T/Alpine Slide
Presidential Home: Monticello
Snack Food: Troy's Bologna
National Park: Shenandoah
Drive: Blue Ridge Parkway
Fireworks Show: D.C.
Sandwich: Delassandro's
Robby's Favorite: Planning for the trip/Cave of the Winds
Tara's Favorite: Cave of the Winds
Reagan's Favorite: Hershey
Anderson's Favorite: Grandfather Mountain
Graham's Favorite: Alpine Slide
Campbell's Favorite: Alpine Slide 
Keaton's Favorite: Swimming Pool Slide (Gatlinburg)
Whitman's Favorite: Playing with his trains in the hotel room


Our Trip by the numbers:

Episodes of Little House on the Prairie: 21
Firework Shows: 2 (Niagara Falls for Canada Day and D.C. for our Independence Day)
Gas Station Fill Ups: 13
Left/Lost a Kid: 3
Pages on Packing List: 7
Christmas Ornaments Bought: 10
Hotels: 14
Breakfast: Paula's Donuts in Buffalo, NY
U-Turns: 13
Total Number of National Park Passport Stamps Received: 245 (35 each book)
Free Ponchos Thrown Away: 16
Money Spent on Ponchos A Few Days Later: $70
Amish Buggies Passed: 12
Times Robby's Phone Messed Up: 63
Drug Deals Seen: 1
Gallons of Gas: 290 (still cheaper than flying!)
Missing Items: 2 (t-shirt and cord)
Ice Cream Stops: 13
7-11 Stops: 3
New States for Keaton and Whitman: 7
Loads of Laundry Washed on Trip: 16
Presidential Homes: 6
Pictures Taken: 2,837
Miles Driven: 4,007 (third longest Dennie road trip) 
Days until Next Trip: 80 (or possibly sooner)

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