Great American Road Trip: Part 1

6:57 a.m. 14 Freeway, Cloudy 59*

Somehow we managed to get out of the house at 6:30. Packed to the gills, it should be an interesting ride, but Matt insists that his "visuals are good." Ben has started the trip, true to form, playing his video game, and Willa and Owen and sketching with their new colored pencils and sketchpads. The Starbucks Venti Latte is slowly overcoming my lack of brain function after a mere four hours of sleep.

7:20 Pearblossom Highway, Sunny 58*

I've only had to climb into the back seat once, which is good...I guess. The other good thing is that we just escaped the cloud cover that has been blanketing the SCV for the last 2 1/2 weeks. I am thrilled to see the sun. There are Joshua trees all around. Owen just cracked open a huge box of skittles, a prize from his teacher for getting the most perfect scores in his class on tests during the year...84 to be exact. I'm gonna let this one slide. Yes, it's not even 8 o'clock, but we've got real battles ahead, I'm sure.

8:00 I-15, Sunny 61*

Kids quiet...lots of desert.

8:42 First pit-stop in Barstow

Owen says, "I dig this journey."

8:49 I-40, Sunny 69*

We just passed a sign that read, "Wilmington, NC 2,554 miles." Wow.

10:45, Sunny, 79*

We stopped at a rest stop for a few. Matt and I are groovin' to Peace Train as we fly through the Mojave. We're snacking on blueberries and chocolate chip granola bars. For educational purposes, we've discussed the fauna of the desert, the black volcanic rock out there (called igneous), as well as bug blood on the windshield. If you care to know about bug blood, it's clear, but tinted by what they eat...yellow = pollen, green = leaves, and black = bugs. The red stuff you sometimes see is actually pigment from fly eyes. Eeeew.

11:15 Arizona welcomes us! Sunny, 88*

Speed limit has increased to 75 MPH and Flagstaff is 197 miles away.

1:53 After an unsuccessful attempt at a pit stop in some no-name town on old Route 66 (they had no running water...), 20 miles later we pulled into Ashforks for a quick picnic lunch at a little Route 66 museum. We accidentally drove away with the dog bowls on the roof, but managed to rescue them after they crashed to the ground just before pulling onto the interstate. For sh*ts and giggles we learned about cloud formations (cirrus, strata, nimbus, and cumulus) and then identified geometric shapes in the clouds we saw out the window. The kids found a circle, square, rhombus, triangle, hexagon and a parallelogram. And lots of hearts.

2:15 AZ-64, partly cloudy 69*

Dense pine forest here at 6000 miles above sea level. I spotted 8 elk by the rail road tracks. Also on our journey we've had to swerve around a tire, a sign post and most recently, a wily coyote who ran across the road in front of our car.

3:10 Grand Canyon, partly cloudy, 68*

Pardon my mistakes, as I'm sure there are plenty. I'll correct after I've had a few hours sleep and can see my keyboard.