Nomad Southeast Trip, Day 3: To NOLA!

December 23, 2018

After our day with the Vanderveers, it was on the road again. This is what our van looked like with gear for 7, sleeping bags, pillows, a tent, camping chairs, stroller, etc.

We love our Honda Odyssey!

#youodysseythis

Breakfast to go.

Driving plan for the day: McAlester, OK to New Orleans, LA via Talimena Scenic Drive. The scenic drive added about an hour to our drive, but it was soooooo worth it!

Beautiful blue smoky mountains!

Positively majestic.

Needed a stretch break.

This road snakes along the ridge of mountains, twisting, turning, swaying.

{Dancy, Samson, Tommy, Thora, Katie}

Half yellow, half green.

One of the scenic pull-offs is called Eagleton. We cringed for Leslie Knope, but it was gorgeous.

Layers and layers of mountains.

This stretch of the road was so fun, we drove it twice! And so I could get a picture of how delightfully snakey it is. Also, note the deer in the curve of the road on the right!

Mmmmm, that road!

Bathroom stop in Mena, Arkansas. Thora loves air dryers.

Roadtrip lunch: hummus cups and multigrain crackers from Costco. Not pictured: chopped veggies...carrots, celery, jicama, cucumber, bell pepper.

My angle is never good enough to include Thora.

{Dancy, Samson, Tommy, Katie}

Shad's belly was getting hot with the sun streaming in from the windshield.

New place! Okay, Shad and I had spent one day in New Orleans prior to this.

{Tommy, Katie, Shad, Thora, Dancy, Samson}

Sunset driving over the swamp on I-10 eastbound to Baton Rouge.

Dinner at Acme Oyster House in Baton Rouge.

{Tommy & Dancy}

{me, Katie, Thora}

Shad and I

{Samson}

We got to our hotel and checked in and...surprise! It'll be an extra $130 for parking for the duration of our stay. Great. Thanks.

Sharing a hotel room with kids sounds like this:

Oh, and it's NOLA, so party bus parked in the street for about 20 minutes booming its music. Sunday night in NOLA, I guess.

Nomad Southeast Trip, Day 2: Robbers Cave State Park

December 22, 2018

Our Winter Solctice drive ended with a late arrival at the Vanderveers' house in McAlester, Oklahoma. We stayed up late talking and playing, reconnecting with our friends we hadn't seen in forever. The next day we went to Robbers' Cave State Park and not everyone stayed awake on the drive.

{Eden}

We split up into a Girls' Car and a Boys' Car.

{Dancy, Katie, Haddie, Thora}

Rock climbers

Always jumping off of something.

{Samson}

Robbers Cave is an area in Eastern Oklahoma where Jesse James and Belle Starr (I don't know who she is) would hideout after their robberies.

{Shad, Samson, Dancy, Thora}

Thora is getting better at hiking activities, but it's nice when she'll hold someone else's hand and not hang on me all the time.

{Thora & Dancy}

To the hideout!

Rock slide.

{Shad & Samson)

We're not big selfie people, but occasionally think to snap one of us.

{Tommy, Dancy, Thora & me}

Always collecting sticks!

When my four-year-old sits down next to you, it is with the intent of telling your her life story.

When we met, we each had 2 kids and Mallory was holding an ultrasound picture in the library. I used that as a conversation starter. From there, we took turns with pregnancy announcements, usually overlapping. They moved from Kansas to Oklahoma when I was 8 months pregnant with Samson.

{Paul, Mallory, Shad, me}

All our kids!

{Micaiah, Tommy, Haddie, Eden, Katie, Samson, Dancy, Moaning Myrtle I mean Thora, Eli}

Climbing the boulders again.

{Samson & Eli}

Again, life story.

{Paul, Mallory, Thora}

Roaring boy with a stick.

Night time cuddles with Batman. He played the "Don't you dare kiss my Megan" game with Shad, and this time he promised that he wouldn't. So I kissed HIM.

Then he pushed me off him and quickly ran to Shad to apologize. "Shad, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kiss your Megan. She kissed me. I'm so sorry! I won't do it again!"