Sabbatication: And, we're off!

The car was packed and we were off! Surprisingly we weren't that squished inside! After a false start (forgot something and realized it a few blocks away) we were off! We drove and drove and drove. And drove some more. Took a lot of rest breaks. And drove and drove and drove!

We shot straight down I-5, and found ourselves in Sacramento around 5:30 p.m. Brian's cousin, Rob and his family live there and we'd hoped we'd have time to stop and say hello, as they only live a few minutes off of the highway. Thankfully our timing was right. We had to stop for dinner in Sacramento anyway, so we called to see if they wanted to meet us. Instead we ended up at their home for a quick pizza dinner. It was a nice break after 10 hours of driving! Tahoe even got to run around for a bit and play.

After our quick meal, we were off again, stopping for the night in Santa Nella, California (an hour south of Stockton). We got a good night's rest (Well...Brian, Katie, and Tahoe did!) and were up early and off by 7 a.m. the next morning. We drove and drove and drove, and drove some more! We considered meeting up with my friend, Lauren, in Los Angeles, but we realized that this day's drive was longer and we didn't want to get into Tucson too late. We skirted L.A., got on I-5, and headed east. And drove, and drove, and drove.

Yes, our drive was about as boring as my commentary!

To entertain ourselves in the car...the first day we listed to an audio book, "The Wednesday Wars," which is one of next year's "Battle" books for middle schoolers. Great book...kept the attention of the whole family. The second day we started another audio book, but some of us (me) kept falling asleep and couldn't keep up with the plot. So that got abandoned.

To while away our time we Facebooked! Thank GOD for Facebook that day. We kept in touch with friends and family...sharing pictures of our drive (lots and lots of brown) and maps of our current location. The iPhones ROCK and really came in handy. When we tired of burgers on the road we were able to quickly find the next taco joint on the road. Same with gas stations. That map feature has been indispensable since we left McMinnville! Katie read a bit, watched movies and listened to music on the iPods, and YouTube videos on the phones. Oh, and she was the TEXTING QUEEN that day! Yes, our gadgets kept us occupied.

To relieve Katie from too much "Tahoe time", Brian and I sat in back with him giving her a little more room on occasion. It was actually really nice to sit in the back and pet the pup. He was a great travel companion....a far cry from his early days when he'd throw up five times before we got to Salem (a 35 minute drive).

So that was our drive.

We got into Tucson around 8, found the furnished rental home right away, but couldn't get in. Some of you know how that played out, but for the sake of a cliffhanger, I'll end there for now. Stay tuned for the rest of the story...