Road Trip 2009…8 States, 12 Days, 3 Kids and 2 Tired Adults

July 14, 2009 – Left Westminster, Colorado at 6pm.

We decided to take a picture at every state line we crossed. This was our first one.

Arrived in Oakland, Iowa – 2 am(We didn’t get a picture of the state sign this time into Iowa). Exhausted and tired. We spent one night at Grandma Coleman’s house in Iowa.

July 15, 2009 – Left Oakland, Iowa at 10:00 am to drive to Chicago, Illinois. We decided Noah should take a turn driving. :)

Arrived at Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Woody’s house in Illinois @ 4 pm.

July 16, 2009 – Tourist Day in Downtown Chicago

Can you find us inside the bean? We’re all in a circle.

We visited The Sears tower on the day that it’s name was changed to Willis Tower…how appropriate!

July 17, 2009 – Made the trek to Fremont, Michigan. Had to go through Indiana… …To get these…

We continued on our journey to Michigan…

…Where we made another stop at the Dutch Village in Holland, MI

We left the Dutch Village to continue onto my Grandparent’s Lake house. We finally arrived at our destination around 4 pm. We stayed in Fremont, MI for 5 days where we played and played and played. Noah and the girls also got to meet and hang out with several of my family members. This is a very special place to my family and I. My Dad and I have both been going there since we were kids.

July 22, 2009 – We drove to Ludington, MI and took a ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.

When we got off the boat, we were now in Wisconsin. We were only in Wisconsin to drive through it, so I don’t have many stories from there. However, from a distance, we did see Lambeau field where the Green Bay Packers play. I am happy to report that David nor Noah did not whiz on the stadium like David had wanted to do! Nor did we stop for any cheese…which is a bummer!

After driving through Wisconsin, we finally reached our next destination, Minneapolis, MN…David’s hometown. We arrived at the Krussow’s (David’s sister and her family) house just in time for dinner. Our whole focus of this portion of our trip was to hang with the fam and to meet the newest member, Clara Grace Krussow.

July 23, 2009 – Minneapolis, MN – Mall of America and a Slider eating contest.

On the day we were there, Ashley Tisdale just so happened to be performing. The girls were ecstatic!

And of course, no trip to Minnesota would be complete without going to the Vikings store.

After the mall, David and Pete decide to have a slider eating contest. They each ate 13.5. Nobody won because they ran out of sliders. So, the contest is to be continued at a later date!

After the contest, they decided to make a White Castle Christmas tree and pose with their creation. Then at the right moment, they set their masterpiece on fire.

July 24, 2009 – Packed up, said goodbye to the Krussow’s, went to Minnehaha Falls (nothing got stolen this time around), showed the girls David’s old house and headed back towards Colorado.

After the falls, we had one last stop in Iowa. On the way back to Grandma Coleman’s, we met up with Cousin Luke and Aunt Ila to have some ice cream.

July 25, 2009 – Left Grandma Coleman’s, saw Grandma Gross and headed home.

So there you have it. Our trip in a nutshell. We had a great time seeing all the sites, meeting and visiting with our family and spending time with our own family. Until next year…