We are less than 3 weeks out from the beginning of our adventure and we are all getting excited! Andrew has loved contributing suggestions for where to stop; however, his one suggestion of Volcano National Park in Hawaii didn't quite make the cut. Nana gave us an Atlas that includes many of the national parks and he has been looking through it to get some ideas. Carolyn just wants to  make sure that riding horses has made it into our itinerary. Matthew is getting a little worried about who will take care of his puppies and tearfully asked Kellie if she would watch them while we're gone. Dani has been working on getting her bag packed and, today, a Saturday, Dani came into our bedroom with her suitcase before we were awake and said "I'm ready to go on our trip!" She insists she wants to take Pooh but we're a little worried it might get lost on the trip so we're not sure what we're going to do with that! 

Michael and I have been busy in the final preparation stages. My nights have consisted of making reservations for our activities and scouting out hotels - trying to get the best deals while also keeping in mind driving distances, pools, and rooms that can accommodate 6. Luckily, we have many generous family and friends who are letting us crash which will be a huge help! Thank you!! Michael has been getting the car ready - he had a hitch added and assisted Bobby with some car maintenance including replacing brake pads and changing out the starter. Hopefully our car can make it through the 7-8,000 mile adventure. 

We're also buying ALL THE THINGS - bigger cooler, hitch rack, telephoto zoom lens, hiking boots (Michael was shocked at that cost!), air mattresses, bread tupperware container, soft sided cooler, apple airtags (so we don't lose the kids!), and other things we probably haven't thought about. The amazon delivery guy will be our best friend. 

As we get closer we get more and more excited yet also more overwhelmed. In finalizing the activities/details of our itinerary we're realizing we will have long days and will "miss" so much stuff that we just don't have time to do. We've already had to make some cuts - Yosemite, Hoover Dam, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore - but the activities we have planned will be amazing (at least in theory - ha!). Stay tuned for our final itinerary. This is our "rough draft" - and it's still a work in progress!