11, 12 and 13.
Days 11 and 12 were so boring that I don't even have any pictures! We woke up on Day 11 in Colorado and drove to Salina, Kansas. 452 miles. We stayed at a La Quinta, picked up some steakhouse take out and called it a night.
Day 12 we drove to St Peters, Missouri. We drove just under 400 miles. I knew as soon as we got in to Missouri that I wanted some Steak n' Shake. We stopped at one for lunch. I got a Frisco burger (or something like that). It was delicious. I gobbled it down!
That evening I got to meet up with a friend, Cathy and her daughters Gianna and Sophie. Cathy and I actually met 3 or 4 years ago (before Sophie/Autumn/Emelia and Gianna were even born!) online. We've been mostly chatting on line, but occasionally had talked on the phone. I was very excited to finally see her face to face. Boy, was she way taller than I was expecting!!
So we met up at a McDonald's. Autumn and Sophie were too busy doing their own things to really notice each other, but Cathy and I got to talk and catch up. It was like being with an old friend. Sean left to get us some dinner to take back to the hotel. We gave our farewell's to Cathy and her crew and headed to our room to eat dinner.
I purposefully picked St Peters, MO as our stop because it was around the corner from where Sean's sister, Julie, lived. Little did I know that O'Fallon, the town Julie lives in, was in Missouri and Illinois. Guess what? Julie lives in O'Fallon, Illinois, not MISSOURI!!!!!! OH well! Julie and her husband made their way over to our hotel with their son, Winston.
Me, Julie and Emelia.
Sean and Winston.
Sean, Winston and Autumn.
Julie, Winston, Sean and Autumn.
It was really good to catch up with Julie. The last time I saw her was when we were in Texas (so at least 4 years ago!). Hard to believe that since we last saw each other we've managed 3 kids (and Julie is pregnant again). We spent about an hour or so together and then we had to get the girls to bed. I started feeling really rough. About midnight, I made my first run to the bathroom and just started puking my guts out. I was shaking and sweating and felt just really horrible. I knew the next day we were supposed to meet some friends and Julie at the zoo and I just didn't even think I was going to be able to do anything. After getting up and down several times, I decided to just lay on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. I'm almost certain that there was something wrong with that darn Frisco burger from steak n' shake. I haven't been back to one since. I was the ONLY one who got sick which really leads me to believe it wasn't a virus, but bad food. I think I fell asleep around 4 am.
I woke up the next morning feeling really rough and unable to eat. I sent Sean and the girls down to the lobby to get their breakfast (I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach breakfast smells) and I took a shower and got ready to go. After getting up and moving around, I knew I needed water since I couldn't eat. Sean got me some fluids and we started to make our way over to the zoo. That is when Julie called me and let me know she wouldn't be meeting me at the zoo. She told me she had a really rough night and didn't get enough sleep. I was really disappointed, but totally understood (I did just spend most the night puking my brains out and laying on the bathroom floor!). We still made our way to the zoo.
Parking was HORRIBLE!!! It was a really nice zoo, but it took us awhile to find a good spot. Remember, we are traveling with 3 cats. Well we weren't about to put our cats on leashes and take them around the zoo, so we had to find a shady spot for them. After about an hour, we finally find a place to park and start walking to the zoo. The St Louis Zoo is awesome and free, so if you are ever in the area, hit it up, but keep in mind, IT IS BUSY!!!
I met with another friend, Sarah (whom I also met online while pregnant with Autumn) and she wasn't at all what I had pictured either! Sarah has a great smile, a beautiful laugh and two gorgeous children. Talking to her came quite easy.
Autumn rocking a total Alaska outfit complete with socks, while wearing sandals, and a long sleeve shirt. IT WAS HOT! BUT she insisted on dressing herself. What do you do?
Autumn quickly became friends with Lucas (Sarah's son), so Sean was keeping an eye on him!
But Lucas is sweet as peas!!!! After just a few minutes Autumn asks Lucas' if they can hold hands.
Isn't that just the sweetest thing? I'm pretty sure Sean was jealous because he use to be the official hand holder of Autumn.
Little Miss Molly (Sarah's daughter).
We were waiting for our good friend Bree and her son's Owen and Adler (we met Bree online too!!!!) when I decided I wanted to get a picture of all the kiddos.
Attempt one = FAIL! Thank you Lucas! You are the only one looking!!! I love the look Emelia is giving Molly.
Attempt two = FAIL!! Now no one is looking!
Attempt three = FAIL!!! Do you notice a pattern here?
Lets just go for Autumn and Lucas. I think this is a cute picture.
So we waited, waited and waited for my friend Bree. I really wanted to meet her and give her a giant hug. Not to sidetrack too far from my own story here, but in February of this year (gosh, it feels like it was last year, but I guess it was just this year) her son Owen was diagnosed with cancer. My heart breaks for Bree because like her, I'm a mother too. Just trying to imagine what that would feel like tore me to pieces. Anyway, I've thrown my support behind Bree, Owen, Adler and Jeff and pray constantly for Owen's remission. If you would like to read more about Owen, please visit his site by clicking on his name.
Back to the zoo! My girls are falling apart. I'm feeling a little woozy myself. It was HOT. The girls were hot! Autumn and Emelia were crying. I felt like crying. Bree makes her big debut! I jump up, give her a giant hug, say my hello's to sweet Owen and then bid my farewell.
Our family picture.
Sean and I get in our vehicles and we have to make a decision. Do we drive to Sean's mom/dad's house or do we stay over in Nashville. We drove for a bit and I decided I felt OK enough to drive and around 7 pm we make the call to go ahead and finish this trip. At this point I was still guessing at food poisoning that caused my problems last night, but maybe it was just eating out every day for every meal for the last 13 days. I don't know! A little after midnight, we pulled into Jim and Phyllis' drive way and what we would call our home for the next month. It was such a relief to know we wouldn't have to wake up every morning, pack and drive. Thank you for following my story and joining me on our great North American adventure.
13 days.
5,546.6 miles.
A trip full of memories to last a life time!
The Jordan's.
Day 12 we drove to St Peters, Missouri. We drove just under 400 miles. I knew as soon as we got in to Missouri that I wanted some Steak n' Shake. We stopped at one for lunch. I got a Frisco burger (or something like that). It was delicious. I gobbled it down!
That evening I got to meet up with a friend, Cathy and her daughters Gianna and Sophie. Cathy and I actually met 3 or 4 years ago (before Sophie/Autumn/Emelia and Gianna were even born!) online. We've been mostly chatting on line, but occasionally had talked on the phone. I was very excited to finally see her face to face. Boy, was she way taller than I was expecting!!
So we met up at a McDonald's. Autumn and Sophie were too busy doing their own things to really notice each other, but Cathy and I got to talk and catch up. It was like being with an old friend. Sean left to get us some dinner to take back to the hotel. We gave our farewell's to Cathy and her crew and headed to our room to eat dinner.
I purposefully picked St Peters, MO as our stop because it was around the corner from where Sean's sister, Julie, lived. Little did I know that O'Fallon, the town Julie lives in, was in Missouri and Illinois. Guess what? Julie lives in O'Fallon, Illinois, not MISSOURI!!!!!! OH well! Julie and her husband made their way over to our hotel with their son, Winston.
Me, Julie and Emelia.
Sean and Winston.
Sean, Winston and Autumn.
Julie, Winston, Sean and Autumn.
It was really good to catch up with Julie. The last time I saw her was when we were in Texas (so at least 4 years ago!). Hard to believe that since we last saw each other we've managed 3 kids (and Julie is pregnant again). We spent about an hour or so together and then we had to get the girls to bed. I started feeling really rough. About midnight, I made my first run to the bathroom and just started puking my guts out. I was shaking and sweating and felt just really horrible. I knew the next day we were supposed to meet some friends and Julie at the zoo and I just didn't even think I was going to be able to do anything. After getting up and down several times, I decided to just lay on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. I'm almost certain that there was something wrong with that darn Frisco burger from steak n' shake. I haven't been back to one since. I was the ONLY one who got sick which really leads me to believe it wasn't a virus, but bad food. I think I fell asleep around 4 am.
I woke up the next morning feeling really rough and unable to eat. I sent Sean and the girls down to the lobby to get their breakfast (I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach breakfast smells) and I took a shower and got ready to go. After getting up and moving around, I knew I needed water since I couldn't eat. Sean got me some fluids and we started to make our way over to the zoo. That is when Julie called me and let me know she wouldn't be meeting me at the zoo. She told me she had a really rough night and didn't get enough sleep. I was really disappointed, but totally understood (I did just spend most the night puking my brains out and laying on the bathroom floor!). We still made our way to the zoo.
Parking was HORRIBLE!!! It was a really nice zoo, but it took us awhile to find a good spot. Remember, we are traveling with 3 cats. Well we weren't about to put our cats on leashes and take them around the zoo, so we had to find a shady spot for them. After about an hour, we finally find a place to park and start walking to the zoo. The St Louis Zoo is awesome and free, so if you are ever in the area, hit it up, but keep in mind, IT IS BUSY!!!
I met with another friend, Sarah (whom I also met online while pregnant with Autumn) and she wasn't at all what I had pictured either! Sarah has a great smile, a beautiful laugh and two gorgeous children. Talking to her came quite easy.
Autumn rocking a total Alaska outfit complete with socks, while wearing sandals, and a long sleeve shirt. IT WAS HOT! BUT she insisted on dressing herself. What do you do?
Autumn quickly became friends with Lucas (Sarah's son), so Sean was keeping an eye on him!
But Lucas is sweet as peas!!!! After just a few minutes Autumn asks Lucas' if they can hold hands.
Isn't that just the sweetest thing? I'm pretty sure Sean was jealous because he use to be the official hand holder of Autumn.
Little Miss Molly (Sarah's daughter).
We were waiting for our good friend Bree and her son's Owen and Adler (we met Bree online too!!!!) when I decided I wanted to get a picture of all the kiddos.
Attempt one = FAIL! Thank you Lucas! You are the only one looking!!! I love the look Emelia is giving Molly.
Attempt two = FAIL!! Now no one is looking!
Attempt three = FAIL!!! Do you notice a pattern here?
Lets just go for Autumn and Lucas. I think this is a cute picture.
So we waited, waited and waited for my friend Bree. I really wanted to meet her and give her a giant hug. Not to sidetrack too far from my own story here, but in February of this year (gosh, it feels like it was last year, but I guess it was just this year) her son Owen was diagnosed with cancer. My heart breaks for Bree because like her, I'm a mother too. Just trying to imagine what that would feel like tore me to pieces. Anyway, I've thrown my support behind Bree, Owen, Adler and Jeff and pray constantly for Owen's remission. If you would like to read more about Owen, please visit his site by clicking on his name.
Back to the zoo! My girls are falling apart. I'm feeling a little woozy myself. It was HOT. The girls were hot! Autumn and Emelia were crying. I felt like crying. Bree makes her big debut! I jump up, give her a giant hug, say my hello's to sweet Owen and then bid my farewell.
Our family picture.
Sean and I get in our vehicles and we have to make a decision. Do we drive to Sean's mom/dad's house or do we stay over in Nashville. We drove for a bit and I decided I felt OK enough to drive and around 7 pm we make the call to go ahead and finish this trip. At this point I was still guessing at food poisoning that caused my problems last night, but maybe it was just eating out every day for every meal for the last 13 days. I don't know! A little after midnight, we pulled into Jim and Phyllis' drive way and what we would call our home for the next month. It was such a relief to know we wouldn't have to wake up every morning, pack and drive. Thank you for following my story and joining me on our great North American adventure.
13 days.
5,546.6 miles.
A trip full of memories to last a life time!
The Jordan's.
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