Day 1

Well, we have made it in one piece to El Paso. We got off 2 hours later than expected, which was totally expected. We drove 580 miles, getting approximately pathetic to really sad gas mileage. We made really good time to the southside of San Antonio where we had our first stop to get things we forgot. We stopped for lunch at a roadside park and I turned my back for just a second, only to turn around and find Joel and Jules on top of the roof of the sheltered picnic table.

The little ones began the trip fighting over who got to sit next to Ellie. After 2 hours the little ones were fighting over who HAD to sit next to Ellie.

In addition to our family we are traveling with Charlie Bone, Artemis Fowl, Gregor the Overlander, Poppy the Ballerina, Harry Potter, and Virginia Wolfe. We are also about to have our vacation read-aloud of The Trumpet and the Swan. This book lives in the trailer and is only read on vacations. So we have been reading it for about 3 years. Reaquainting ourselves with Louis and his trumpet is like reuniting with friends at summer camp.....

Thanks to Juliana we had great music today. She is a great mixer! She even showed respect for her elders with a decent amount of Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, and the Guns-n-Roses version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door (my personal favorite).

We are now checked into the first of many concrete parking lots known as RV parks - heated pool and Jasper was in heaven! The chlorine dunk was substitued for baths.

A few pics are below. There are none of Ellie because she was uncooperative. Since she is unlikely to look any better tomorrow, and in fact will probably look worse, I might have to become sneaky with the camera.

We are looking forward to visiting relatives and I wonder if they are watching our approach on the blog like people watch a hurricaine or tornado approaching.....