Home is Where the Heart Is....

Hey guys!!!!

I'm FINALLY home! Vegas was amazing, but home is always better. As promised, I'm writing the blog full of pictures about the trip. As to not overwhelm anyone, I'll break it down into a few different parts. A lot happened while I was in Vegas & you guys deserve to know all about it.

***

The trip officially started on July 24. Mom drove my sister, Elizabeth, & I to Grandma & Grandpa's house in Cape Girardeau, MO, about a 2.5 hr drive from our house in Arkansas. Elizabeth stayed with Grandma while Grandpa & I were gone. Saturday morning (July 25) Grandpa & I hit the road bright & early, traveling Highway 44 along Southern Missouri. The first night we stopped at a Motel 8 in Mount Vernon, MO. They had NO cable! I almost died. It was about 15 channels, 10 of which were some form of ESPN. I think we found the end of a movie, I can't really remember. I know I was exhausted, so I went to bed not long after we got in.

Trees outside of Mount Vernon. Who knew this would be the last time I would see them for a few weeks.

***

We woke up around 6:30 or 7 the next morning. Getting up that early was killer, but it gaves us more time to cover more ground before construction started & traffic got too bad.


JONAS MOMENT: I had a lot of those on this trip...anyway...we went through Tulsa, which is where the second show of the World Tour was...had some minor teenie moments...but quickly got them under control. :P

Got on Interstate 40 outside of Tulsa. Parts of it are the old Route 66. It was really cool to travel that, knowing how much it's a part of America's history. Driving through Oklahoma & then into Texas was beautiful. The sky in Texas is HUGE & seems to go on FOREVER

I started seeing signs on the side of the road for "THE BIGGEST CROSS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE!" well here it is....


Second night we stopped in Amarillo, TX.

So...we're up to Monday, July 27...the longest day of driving EVER! Grandpa & I got up super early again, planning on stopping in Albuquerque, NM for the night. The sunrise in Texas was beautiful. The sky...the flat plains...

One of the old Route 66 towns
Somewhere around the Texas/New Mexico border we ran into a thunderstorm. The cool thing about this storm was you could see where it was. Like it was sunny to both sides, and then you could see the storm.

Well...we made Albuquerque around lunch time MST (mountain standard time). Since we still had plenty of daylight & lots of hours left in the day, we decided to try to make Flagstaff, AZ. We made Flagstaff & it was still early. Right outside of Flagstaff, I spotted the first of many signs to LA



Grandpa wanted to try to make the Arizona/Nevada border. I told him to stop for the ngiht when he started to get tired. When we got to the border there were NO hotels! NONE!

We called my grandparents who live in Vegas. They said that if we were that close (which was like 2 hrs) we should go ahead and drive on into the city. Our reservations at the hotel didn't start until Tuesday, so we made plans to stay with my aunt & cousins for the night.

We crossed the Colorado River...



and not long after I got my first view of the Vegas Strip...


and that's where I'm going to leave you guys for the night...up next is my first night in Vegas! :D What an adventure!

♥♥♥ Jen