A record travel day

So when we orginially set this whole crazy Epic Family Road Trip up, we knew there would be one day that was going to be really hard. We dreamed of driving to the Shortage (Short family cabin in Westcliffe, Co) in the morning so we could see the mountains and in time to be able to make it to worship at the little UM church in Westcliffe. This meant that we would have to make it some 11 hours (just drive time) on Saturday, after the Friday night wedding, with two kids under 5. 

Wheels up at 7:45 (cst), we started strong. The kids always do great in the morning. But let's be honest, we are who we are, which means that we were going to stop every so often. We made it all the way to Lampasas, TX. But when we heard about this large catfish we had to stop.

And then there was this place:

Back in the van, we plowed through, stopping in Slaton, TX for the World's Greatest Thumbprint Cookies, at the Slaton Bakery. We didn't get pictures because we ate them too quickly.

Lubbock was the next stop mainly because it was on the way. But, of course I wanted to see the Texas Tech Football Stadium, which is really nice.

This looks like all the other buildings on campus, but it is the entrance to the stadium.

We had a late lite lunch at the park and made some time for running around.

We then ventured onto Amarillo where we did a little shopping and a little dinner. 

Only 80 miles from Lubbock, this provided enough time for everyone to grab a nap.

Any visit to Amarillo has to include swinging by Cadillac Ranch. So the story goes that some hippies from San Francisco came to Amarillo and with permission from a wealthy landowner, buried a bunch of Cadillacs from a variety of years. People are then encouraged to add their own touch to this 'art project' by spray painting them. Yes, the kids thought this was cool and did a little painting.

From Amarillo, we made our way to Raton, NM where we would stay for the night. Two things: the northwest part of Texas, outside of Amarillo, may be the worst smelling place ever. The cattle processing plants will make you rethink eating meat just because of the odor they produce. Even GBG was asking, 'what's that smell?'  And secondly, we used a two lane highway, for 35 miles, and did not see another single living thing. No animals. No other cars. No homes. Nothing. It was a little spooky. And it reiterated that we live in a large world and Texas is freakin' huge.

Along the way, we knew we would be out in the middle of nowhere which meant we should be able to see some amazing stars at night. We were disappointed in the overcast skies, but then rewarded by getting to see an amazing lightening storm off in the distance. The flat terrain allowed us to see for miles and to see the lightening bolts come vertically down. It was quite impressive and a nice reward after a long day.

Crossing into New Mexico, we were greeted by mountain time, meaning the clock turned back another hour. So while the clock said 10:45pm when we pulled into Raton, we really knew that we had turned in a 16 hour day, travelling some 600 miles. With only a few minor melt downs, mainly from the older folks, ok, from me (Brad) I would say it was a tremendously long, but good day. But I don't want to do it again any time soon.