July 17, 2007
Meredith:

We are officially en route back to Texas. It's been a fantastic trip. I've loved just about every minute of it. Even the hail and rain storm that flooded our tent is a laughable memorable event.

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone this morning. I look forward to the next time we can get together again.
And now we are seeing a new area of the country for us -- the flat land of eastern Colorado. It won't be enough, though -- we're going to Kansas to see more flat land!
2:02pm MTN: The land is still flat.
Click image for more photos.
4:29pm CDT: Kansas is supposedly "The Wheat State," but so far it looks like "The Corn State." Do you 'ear what I'm saying? OK, sorry, that was corny.
4:45pm: We tried to stop at the Prairie Museum in Colby, but it was closing in 15 minutes. So we went to Sonic for ice cream instead.
6:50pm: We finally found some oil pumps. Not in Texas, but in Kansas.
7:37pm: Kansas actually has some hills! We found some about 224 miles into Kansas. Trees and green grass, too!
8:10pm: Stopping in Salina for dinner and bed.
Logan:

This morning we had bacon, waffles, and fruit. Then I got darts out and started shooting. I got to play Quiditch on the labtop after that. Now we are on the road and have left the Lopez's. I'm going to miss them, Joey and Annemarie especially. We have seen bison, cars, and farms, nothing more on our way to Kansas.
July 18, 2007
Meredith:

This is "Boogie Back to Texas Day," as named by Logan.

In order to keep our vacation new and exciting, Logan threw up in the car. He'd had a tummy ache earlier, but we didn't realize the extent of his feeling bad. And here we are with another 10 or so hours to Austin.
We cleaned Logan and the car up pretty well. One good thing about Kansas is that three different people pulled over to see if we needed help. Very nice, except that they timed it for right when Logan was trying to change clothes!
About 20 minutes later, Logan threw up again -- this time while we were pulled over, the only acknowledgment we got from other drivers was a truck driver from the other side of the road -- he honked his horn at me in a flirtatious hello <rolls eyes>.
Poor Logan. What a way to have to ride home. But he's hanging in there.
I-35 is a toll road in Kansas. It cost $1.60 to drive from Wichita to the southern border. You get a ticket at the first toll booth that you turn in at a later plaza, and depending on where you go and how many axles you have, you can pay up to $20 -- so I guess there's a network of toll highways.
11:51am: Logan threw up again. Yay for gallon-sized Ziploc bags. I recommend them for your in-car vomiting needs. This time a state trooper pulled over. I saw him logging info about the incident -- documented for the entire state of Kansas! I told him not to worry -- soon we'd be out of Kansas and throwing up in Oklahoma instead.
12:00pm: Oklahoma -- OK!
1:00pm: We're in Logan County, OK. I asked Logan if he needed to throw up -- it seemed the perfect place for it. He said no. So much for marking his territory! Logan seems to be feeling better by the way.
1:18pm: A highway sign indicates we are pretty much in the center of the United States. Nolan says, "No, we're not. We're in Oklahoma."
1:28pm: Spoke to soon. Logan got sick again. Oklahoma City.
2:06pm: Ugh, this city. Roads horrible. Kept forcing me to go ways I didn't want to go. Took forever to find any sort of store. Finally found a Walmart -- bought Sprite, clear Gatorade, crackers, and more Ziploc bags in case of more sickness.
4:10pm: Texas, our Texas! The final stretch is before us. With Logan feeling bad today and us all ready to be home, we decided to drive straight to Austin, rather than stopping in Dallas. Just a few hours to home!
4:36pm: Well, there's the biggest junk yard I've ever seen. Texas-sized, even!
5:36pm: Stuck in Fort Worth traffic. Everyone, clear out -- and nobody except us go to Austin.
6:24pm: Very strange. In Kansas, the Wheat State, we saw no wheat fields but instead saw huge green cornfields. Here in Texas, the cornfields are dying, and I've seen already 2 thriving wheat fields. Make that 3.

Oh good -- there are some healthy cornfields. And more wheat.
6:52pm: Everything is so green, but I still see a few dying cornfields. Could there have been too much rain? Maybe they were already harvested?
7:14pm: Less than 100 miles to Austin!
7:45pm: There's a rainbow spot in the sky. It's bizarre -- no arc or anything. It must be ALIENS! Happy aliens!
8:27pm: We're in Austin!
8:38pm: And we're HOME! A beautiful sunset greeted us. What better ending than that? :-)
Miles traveled: 3,034.5 miles Final mpg: 46.8mpg
Logan:

Today started out with leaving the hotel we were at. Then, I vomited, and again, and again, and again. That was in Kansas and Oklahoma. Now we are here in Texas, I haven't barfed once. We are going directly to Austin. We're gonna be home TODAY!!

WE ARE HOME
Nolan:

CHAPTER 15: the vomiTing.

Logan vomited and thin Logan had to chage close.

CHAPTER 16: Back in Texas

We're back in Texas and were going Home! and I can't wait to see dad again.

We ARe Home
In Memoriam
As wonderful as our vacation was, there is a sad part to tell. While we were on our trip, our sweet Kit-Kat became severely ill at home. We hand-fed her, helped her drink, and gave her meds, but she just kept getting weaker. With great sadness, on Monday, July 30, we made the decision to put her to sleep so that she could rest.

Please click on Kit-Kat's picture to learn more about our wonderful girl.
Kit-Kat, we love you and miss you.
July 6-7 July 8-9 July 10-11 July 12-13