New York or Bust!

Our cross-country drive was pretty fun. I got some little toy prizes that the kids received when we reached certain cities, so it was fun for them to watch for the signs. Although in retrospect, they usually didn't spot them. They just kept saying, "Are we to Cheyenne yet?" or whichever city we were watching for. I had a list of possible hotels to stop at, but we rarely stopped in the cities I'd planned. We'd just see how far we felt like going and then we'd get online to find a hotel with an indoor pool and a complimentary breakfast. We would usually just get there in time to eat something and go to bed. The next morning, we'd go down and have breakfast and then go swim for a while. We went swimming more on this drive than we usually do in a whole summer. (Our kids have been young enough in the past that we couldn't watch all four of them well enough to feel safe.) I think Maggie got over her fear of water on this trip.

We drove enough on the first days to allow us to spend most of one day at Kirtland. I was surprised at how much the kids enjoyed the tours. They did really well. This first picture is in the Kirtland Temple visitor center:

We celebrated New Year's Eve in our apartment after arriving. It was a simple affair. It felt good to eat a healthy, home-cooked meal after eating out so often on our drive.